Bonds Over Fate
by ItalianBreadstick
Summary: Roxanne Danvers had kept two secrets. One of her own and the other belonging to her family and friends. Keeping her family's secret had never been a problem, but her secret love for Reid Garwin was a different story. Please R&R! SemiMovie-verse.
1. Returning Home

**Disclaimer_: I do not own the concept or characters from the movie, "The Covenant." Any other characters not related to the movie, are mine and are NOT to be used in any other fan fictions. _**

**Author Note: **_Please rate and review! I appreciate constructive criticism, but please no flames. This is my first fan fiction. Thank you for reading! -IB_

* * *

Secrets. I was used to keeping them by now; my own and anyone else's that came along. I had learned to keep my mouth shut, especially after five long years of practice.

It was quite the drive back to my hometown in Ipswitch all the way from Chicago and I found myself several times daydreaming as I drove through patches of scenery. The turning of the autumn leaves had me traveling back in time to when I was young and used to go out and play in the leaf piles without a care in the world. Thinking about the past, sent all of the vivid memories of home flooding into my brain at once. From the happy to the sad, I was taken through a large range of emotions just as I pulled into the driveway of my home away from home: a dark looking mansion that my cousin and aunt inhibited.

It had been one hell of a long year and I couldn't wait to be inside its safe, familiar walls. As I turned the growling engine off of my beautiful car, a speedy, deep red and black racing-striped 1989 Mustang LX in mint condition, I took a look around the massive front yard. My heart lurched anxiously at the thought of the year I was going to have being back here with my friends.

Damn, it felt good to be back.

I left my things in my lovely car. I could always come back out and get them. Walking up the small amount of steps, I took a deep, excited breath and rang the bell. I wasn't sure how one year could change us or rather how it could change me. I wasn't sure if I looked all that much different than I had looked twelve months ago, but I guessed it was a possibility that everyone else looked different.

I was snapped from my thoughts when the door suddenly opened to reveal my absolutely most favorite cousin in the world standing in my most adored house of my childhood. A joyful smile graced that handsome Danvers' face of his as he instantly pulled me into a hug. A bone crushing hug might I add. "Roxi! How are you? God, it's been a long time."

"Caleb, I love you too, but I can't really breathe," I said laughing lightly. He loosened his grip after I gave him a tight squeeze back. I grinned happily. "It's so good to see you again. Remind me never to stay away for this long again."

If anything, Caleb seemed and felt more built than he had been before. Probably from swimming, I assumed. Swimming always was their thing. His smile and compassionate, brotherly ways were still the same. "I will don't worry."

I peered slightly past him. "Where's the rest of my welcome party?" I asked. I was hoping to see everyone when I arrived.

"I haven't told them yet," he said patting my shoulder before walking past me towards the car.

I popped the trunk with my remote starter as I followed him. "Why not?" I asked raising an eyebrow.

He began taking bags of luggage out of the trunk and muttering things like "how much stuff do you have?" and "what the hell are you keeping in this bag?"

"I'd like an answer, Sir Whines-a-Lot," I said smirking slightly as I picked up a few of my bags.

Caleb smiled. "We're all meeting at Nicky's tonight so I thought I'd bring you as a surprise guest."

"So what you're pretty much saying is that they have no idea that I'm staying here now?" I asked, giving him a commending look.

"Not the slightest," he replied as I followed him into the house.

"Sweet. I hate surprises, but I guess it's cool if I'm surprising somebody else." I grinned. "Nice thinking. And here I thought you didn't have a sneaky bone in your body."

"Ha. Ha. Ha," Caleb said dryly before grinning himself. "Mother, Roxi's here," Caleb called into the house as we headed for the stairs.

"Roxanne! It's so good to see you, my dear," my aunt said appearing from the kitchen with a glass of what I assumed was whiskey or some other amber colored liquor in her hand.

Caleb glanced at me almost apologetically. I shrugged lightly. He really didn't have to though. I remembered pretty damn well that she was still an alcoholic since the whole situation with Uncle William. How could I forget? Of course, she was sober for the most part as of the present moment, but who knew how long that would last for.

"Hi, Auntie Evelyn!" I said as she approached me for a distanced hug. It wasn't the type of hug that I had received from Caleb, but it was as I had expected. My aunt wasn't the touchiest woman in the world, but she let you know that she liked you. "Thank you so much for letting me stay here. I really appreciate it."

She waved it off. "Oh, don't be ridiculous. It was no trouble at all. Besides, you practically lived here all of your life up until last year anyway. You just make yourself at home as always, Roxanne." She smiled before asking, "How are your parents? Enjoying Chicago?"

My parents and I had moved there once we got back for the summer from Italy. It was a bit of a change and I wasn't one to welcome it. I hated my school there. It wasn't that the kids were mean or the teachers were pricks, I just missed the things and the friends that I had back here. That was why I had pleaded with my parents to let me get transferred back into Spenser. We had stayed in Italy for almost three months for the summer before returning to the U.S. and moving into our new house in Chicago. I couldn't stand it there. Everything was just so_ different_. So, once the opportunity came up I decided that I would move back to Ipswitch with my other family.

"Oh, they're great. They're going to miss me being around to bug them, but I think they'll live. The city's really cool. I'm sure it'll keep them entertained for a while," I replied with a smile. Yep, it was a definite change moving back here from Chicago.

"You should call them to let them know you got here in one piece."

"Already taken care of," I answered. "I called them before I got into town."

She beamed. "So responsible." Then she looked over at Caleb. "Caleb, dear, take her up to the guest room and help her get set up."

"That's where we were headed," he said before tugging on my arm. "Come on." My aunt gave me another small smile before we ascended the stairs. I glanced around the place as we walked down the hallway.

"It hasn't changed much," I commented.

Caleb shook his head. "No, not really."

He stopped at a door and turned to me with a wide grin before he twisted the knob and opened it. "Here's your room. It's a little more updated than before. Obviously you need more things now if you're going to actually being living in this house." He flipped on the light switch and two lamps on each side of the queen sized bed lit up brightly.

I gasped lightly as my eyes searched the room curiously. The room was still white like I remembered, but the things around it were entirely different. A beautiful plasma TV was on the wall facing the rest of the room above a black, leather Lazy Boy. A gray bean bag lay contently on the floor in the corner next to a book shelf. A gorgeous mahogany dresser with a mirror atop it shared the wall with the doorway. It looked great and I could really see myself living in this room. "It's fucking amazing, Caleb!" I said excitedly as he walked in and set my bags down on the floor. I followed in suit, jumping onto him in a tight hug. "Thank you!" The moment that he set me back down on the ground while laughing, I launched myself onto the big bed. "It's bouncy," I said sitting up and running my hand over the soft, black and silver comforter.

He chuckled again. "I'm glad you like it."

"Like it? Are you nuts? I adore this bed! I may never leave my room, that's just how much I love it. These are my favorite colors. You actually remembered that?" I asked surprised, a smile tugging at the corners of my mouth.

"Yep. Do I get the World's Best Cousin award or what?" He struck a smug pose. I threw a pillow at him, hitting him square in the face. I laughed only to receive the pillow back in my face.

"Hey!" I said faking annoyance. "You're not even close to being the World's Best Cousin. You just hit me the face. That's going to cost you brownie points." I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Yeah, Yeah. Get ready we're supposed to meet everyone there at 7:00."

I glanced at the clock that was on one of the bedside tables. 6:00. It would take me at least a good hour to get ready. "Everyone?" I raised an eyebrow. "You act like we're meeting a mob of people."

"Well, you haven't met a few people that are going to be there," Caleb said turning around to leave.

"Like who?" I asked him quickly.

He turned back around. "Well, there's Kate-"

"Kate?" I raised both eyebrows suggestively.

"No, she's Pogue's girlfriend, not mine," he said shaking his head. "They've been dating for almost a year, I think. Right after you left. Kate Tunney. You remember her don't you?"

"Sure. She's not bad. Still not getting any though, huh? Poor Caleb," I joked to obtain a scowl in return. It was only a matter of time before Pogue finally got a girlfriend. The girls practically eyed the guy like a piece of meat. I was just surprised that no one had told me yet. "So who're the others then, Mr. Virginity?" I was only teasing him of course.

Caleb rolled his eyes, but otherwise didn't acknowledge my comment in any other way. "There's Chase Collins. He's the new guy; he just transferred to Spenser, just like Sarah and now you. We met them last night. Sarah's-"

"Ah, so it's _Sarah_," I smirked; a trait that I picked up long ago from Reid.

He averted his eyes for a split second, a light blush colored his cheeks which wasn't easy to see unless you knew what it looked like when Caleb was embarrassed. I watched him fight back a grin unsuccessfully. "Mr. Danvers is finally taking a risk and putting his heart on the line, huh? I'm impressed. For a while I wasn't sure if you were really part of the male species. I mean, where were the raging teenage hormones?"

"Reid has them all." Caleb shook his head and laughed quietly before meeting my gaze. "I guess there's a possibility she might be interested. But I don't know."

"I'm sure she likes you," I assured him with a smile as I got off of the bed to go through my bags on the floor.

"She could always change her mind and take the bait on the crappy 'grandma' lines that Reid's been trying to feed her. He fixed her car last night," he said ending his sentence quietly.

"He's still using those? God, I thought he would have figured out by now that those don't_ ever _work. Wait, he _used_?" I asked suddenly outraged.

Reid couldn't fix a car to save his life, so it was obvious that he went for the power. _"That's what we pay mechanics for," _he would say, rolling his eyes at me. I wasn't sure if it was the fact that Reid was wearing his life down by using so much or the mentioning of another girl catching his eye. Had he forgotten about me that quickly?

"He does it too much. I tell him all the time to knock it off, but he doesn't seem to get it through his thick skull. You know how he is. He knows what the powers do to him. He's seen it with my father, but it doesn't appear to be enough of a wake up call for him," Caleb said irritated. The subject clearly still pissed him off. I couldn't blame him.

"_Unbelievable_!" I hissed, tearing open the zipper on my bag and digging through it to find my favorite pair of jeans.

Silence hung in the air momentarily. "I thought you'd be a little more upset about that fact that he was trying to pick up another girl," he noted gently afraid he might hit a nerve. Relationships weren't something that Caleb and I often discussed, but it came up occasionally. Especially when it was about Reid.

I paused from my rummaging before shaking my head slowly. Resuming my search for my tight, dark blue skinny jeans, I sighed quietly. "I don't know why you would think that." It was an obvious lie.

Caleb wasn't blind or stupid enough to believe it anyway. I cared deeply for Reid. We used to fight like hell when we were younger. Tyler was both mine and Reid's best friend back then, but when we got older our relationship got better and stronger. After that we seemed to have a connection and the feelings were there, but… ever since that small kiss before I left for Italy, we never really talked about it. Hell, we hadn't really spoken much since I had left. It could have been a simple good-bye kiss, but something deep down inside told me otherwise. There was _something_ there. There always had; something small that blossomed into something much greater. Or at least, that's what I wanted to believe. I wondered what it would be like when we saw each other again. I could only imagine… Of course I wouldn't have to imagine for very long.

I was thrown back into reality and out of my reminiscing by a loud sigh emitting from my cousin. My head shot up to meet knowing eyes. "Alright, Rox, if you say so. You might as well start getting ready; you don't have a whole lot of time."

I nodded, pulling my pants out as he said quietly, "He missed you a lot, you know. They both did." I heard the door shut softly with a click signaling me that he had exited the room. I stayed silent.

Both. Tyler and Reid.

I knew what "both" meant in Caleb terms. No matter what, Caleb always had wanted me to fall for Tyler. Tyler was more my best friend than anything else and although he had a hell of a lot more pros than Reid had, I just couldn't like him in that way. I mean, I loved Tyler to pieces, but I wasn't in love with him. Not to say that I was in love with Reid, but who knew? Maybe I was.

Caleb kind of always tried to push the fact that Tyler was a much more suitable candidate to fall for. I knew that the real reason was because he wanted to make sure that I wasn't doing anything "reckless" or "crazy". It was a protective, brotherly instinct I guess. To protect me from Reid would, in Caleb's eyes, protect me from getting hurt.

I guess that he was still hoping that would happen. He was like the overprotective, older brother that I never had and sometimes wished would just leave me alone, but it was nice to be looked after every now and then, and I knew he meant well.

He always said that Tyler didn't have the balls to lie to him, which I found to be highly offending on Tyler's behalf. He was just a shy, honest guy. There was no reason to take a cheap shot at his balls. The poor guy. Obviously, that was why he was such a great candidate in Caleb's eyes. He'd be too afraid to even think about having sex with in a 10 mile radius from Caleb and that was just the way that Caleb wanted it.

Reid was practically the _exact_ opposite. I knew that for a fact. Reid and I used to seriously flirt with each other all the time, which Caleb wasn't really too fond of. I didn't think it was that big of a deal. That was just the way that Reid was. I loved it; there weren't a lot of times that I could actually joke around with someone the way that Reid and I did. There was no reason to scold us for it. He could be such a killjoy sometimes.

I sighed from memories and pulled my black, low-cut, halter vest designed to look like a corset out of the bag next to my leg. Stripping off my clothes, I headed into the bathroom that happened to be conveniently joined to my room. I put the jeans and halter on before checking my reflection. I didn't know why I was being so rash with my clothing. It quite possibly could have been because Reid's eye was on another girl. I guessed it was my only thought at the time for catching his attention again. Shallow, I know.

My jet black hair with silvery blue streaks was very nicely straightened due to earlier preparation since I left from my hotel room this morning. It was a lengthy drive from Chicago; I needed to rest somewhere. What little make-up I applied previously had remained untouched and looked fine. I brushed a hair through my hair anyway. I'd probably get grief from one of them for my dye job.

While poking my head out of the doorway, I spotted the time. 6:33. I was making damn good timing. Perfect. That would give me just enough time to change my outfit three or four more times. I had to admit that I was nervous. I would have to be insane not to be. After all, I hadn't seen or really heard much from them in a very long year, save for a few emails here and there. Now we would see each other everyday and in school.

Senior year was distinctly looking better than junior year. It could possibly turn out to be better than any other year that we had all been together. Last year had been terrible because of the move. As much as I loathed the school uniforms at Spenser, I loved my boys and I really wanted to get into Harvard with them. It was hell being away for so long.

After staring at my clothes for a few more minutes, I found I was as satisfied as I was going to get. I grabbed my very light, black, leather jacket, it was pretty chilly at night this time of year.

Retouching my lip gloss, I checked the time again. 6:46. I sighed as nerves ran through me. Part of me was excited and part of me was somewhat dreading the whole surprise idea. My stomach knotted. What if they didn't even recognize me? No, I didn't look _that_ different. They would have to see that it was me. But, what if unlike Caleb had told me, they had enjoyed the time away from me?

I groaned and fell back onto my bed. Giving myself a moment to collect my thoughts, I took a deep breath. Then I grabbed some money from my purse and slid the folded bills into my front pocket. Trying to push my nerves aside, I headed for the mirror on my dresser and examined my appearance once more.

I frowned. Nope, not yet. I dug through the bags once more.

"Ha!" I said triumphantly to no one as I pulled out a pair of black, high-heeled boots. I adored those boots. They fit snuggly against my leg and just reached a few inches below the knee. I had bought them while in Italy. I put them on over my socks and jeans, stood on my stunning bed, and studied my reflection long and hard. Finally my lips twitched down and I glanced at the clock. 6:54.

When I really looked at myself, I realized that I did in fact look different to what they remembered looking like. It was all I could do to not faint from panic. I knew that I was being ridiculously nervous over what would probably turn out to be nothing, but I had to feel a few butterflies at least. A few hundred having a rowdy party. Shit, I was irrationally nervous. I just wanted things to be the way they were before I had left.

I was sure that this was how the guys felt when they turned thirteen and their change was far different than mine. Especially Caleb. He was the first to develop the powers since he was the first to turn thirteen. I had never heard of anything like this and when I discovered that my beloved cousin was some sort of black-eyed monster, I completely freaked and locked myself in my room. I wouldn't see him and I wouldn't talk to him. I couldn't. It was such a shock to me that something like that existed and I was actually afraid of him. What hurt the most was that nobody bothered to tell me that this ran in his father's bloodline as well as Pogue, Reid, and Tyler's blood.

Eventually, after a few months, I decided that I couldn't just shut Caleb and the guys out. How could I do that? It was hard for them to deal with that change, too. I wouldn't forget that look of hurt on Caleb's face when I screamed and ran out on his birthday.

From then on, I chose to accept them for who they were and what they were forever. No exceptions. Fate was fate, bonds were bonds. Our bonds, I believed, were stronger than any fate that ever came our way. I hoped deep inside that they felt the same way.

Thinking back was going to make us late. Making sure that I had my phone and money in my pockets, I got off the bed. My eye caught the red numbers, 6:59. Ah, shit. I grabbed my jacket off of the bed and sped out of the room, hitting the light switch as I went. Great. What a way to start the night off.

Caleb was already at the bottom of the stairs waiting patiently. We were late of course, but I knew that he wouldn't give me too hard of a time. He looked up and smiled lightly, shaking his head.

"Yeah, I know I made us late," I told him as I descended the stairs.

He just continued to shake his head and smile.

"What?" I asked frowning.

"Are you going to a concert or something?" he teased.

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, you're just _so_ _funny_, aren't you? Nicky's is a bar, so I guess it's close enough," I said sighing.

"Come on. Let's go," he said. Then he paused from his journey to the door and smirked lightly. "You're lucky I told them to meet us at 7:15."

My face fell in disbelief. "Are you kidding me? That's low, Caleb Danvers! That's just low!"

He laughed. "I wanted to get there on time and I know you too well."

"Jerk," I muttered as he opened the door and I walked out. I headed to for his car, opened the door, and hopped in. After he joined me, he started up the silver 2006 Mustang and we pulled out of the open gate and onto the road.


	2. It's Been a While

**Disclaimer**_**: I do not own the concept or characters from the movie, "The Covenant." Any other characters not related to the movie, are mine and are NOT to be used in any other fan fictions. **_

**Author Note: **_Please read and review! I appreciate constructive criticism, but please no flames. Thank you for reading! -IB_

* * *

It barely took us anytime to get to Nicky's. My heart fluttered and my stomach flipped like crazy. "I'm nervous. Do you think they'll be happy I'm back?" I asked quietly.

Caleb snorted. "Of course. They love you and I know for a fact that they missed you. Don't worry so much. You're way over thinking this."

I took a deep breath and nodded. I _was _just being silly. As I opened my door, Caleb followed in suit and gave me an encouraging smile. We locked up his car and headed into Nicky's. I was so nervous and excited I could hardly breathe. I took another deep breath to try and steady myself, but so far I hadn't noticed any difference. Butterflies still swirled in my stomach like they were at a night club.

Caleb gave my shoulder a reassuring squeeze as we walked through the bar, past the pool tables, and over to an occupied table. There sat a pretty black girl, a guy that I assumed was Chase, and a blonde girl.

As we approached them, I received less than friendly looks from the girls as they looked up from their conversation. I never really liked blondes anyway. Just one and he was a guy. Good Lord, did I dislike girls sometimes. They could be awfully moody. Hell, I was one, I should know.

"Hey," Caleb said, pulling out chairs for us to sit on. Seeing as how he placed himself next to the blonde, I guessed that she must be the one and only Sarah.

The girls replied with "Hi's". Then Kate, I thought I remembered her as, asked, "Who's this?" It wasn't a mean question. She was simply just curious and I suddenly realized that I hadn't said a word since we walked in.

As I sat down, Caleb introduced me. "This is my cousin."

That was my cue. "Hi, I'm Roxi Danvers. You must be Kate," I said smiling. I extended my hand which she shook with a smile. I repeated the process with both Sarah, who seemed much friendlier, and Chase, who seemed to eye me in a such a way that it made me almost blush and want to punch him in the face at the same time. Hmm… how strange. That usually didn't happen on a first impression.

"I thought you looked kind of familiar. I remember you now from sophomore year, but I hardly recognized you with your hair like that. What brings you back to Ipswitch?" Kate asked me.

"Well, I'm actually transferring back into Spenser. I don't think that I look that different, do I?" I looked to Caleb who just shrugged in response.

"You're going to be new to Spenser, too?" Sarah asked.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that. I heard you and Chase just transferred in."

"Yeah," she said. "First day is coming up soon."

Chase simply nodded in response before giving me that same smile from before.

I turned my attention back to Sarah. "You'll like it there. It can be pretty fun at times, especially the weekend parties. I went there until last year when I moved to Chicago. It's not so bad. The seating arrangement in class is different," I told them before Caleb shifted in his chair.

"Hi, baby. You missed a great movie," Kate said as he kissed her and slid his jacket over the back of her chair.

"Yeah. Well, I had to get my bike fixed."

I didn't have to look up to know who it was. I could just tell by his voice.

I raised an eyebrow at Caleb. I didn't remember anybody mentioning that Pogue was driving a motorcycle, but I decided to have some fun with him.

"That's ok. Chase kept me company," she replied glancing at Chase, who just smirked. Well, that wasn't good. I _knew_ he was a sneaky little bastard.

"I'll just bet he did," he said clearly sounding annoyed.

"You're still riding a ten-speed? Man, what happened? I thought you of all people could actually _pass_ your motorcycle test?" I said still looking at the table, but I could feel his eyes on me now.

I smiled looking up at him. His expression changed from furrowed brows to raised brows.

"No way. When the hell did you get here, Rox?" he asked walking over to my side of the table as I stood up to hug him.

"Miss me?" He pulled into a tight hug. I returned it, giving him a swift kiss on the cheek.

"'Course," he said chuckling. "You look really good. What the hell did you do to your hair?" he asked as he examined me and tugged at a piece of my hair, glaring at it.

I slapped his hand away annoyed. "I happen to like it. The boys in Italy seemed to like it, too thank you very much. Perhaps I'll go back there, where they love me more," I teased.

"I don't think so," Pogue replied, looking at me sternly before a smile graced his lips. "Besides, _Reid_ and Tyler haven't even seen you yet, have they?" He grinned, wiggling his eyebrows after the extra emphasis on Reid.

How did he know I had a little thing, okay, a _big_ thing for Reid? I had no clue. I supposed that he just figured by the way we acted together, but still… it made me wonder if Reid had a hunch about it. Was it that obvious? Probably not. He was too blind to see it and he was such a flirt, so what difference did it make to him?

"Shut up," I told him, shaking my head.

He leaned forward and said in a hushed voice, "He's going to flip when he sees you. You certainly grew up a bit, didn't you?" He looked down to my outfit noticeably, smirking.

"Don't push it, Pogue," I said rolling my eyes and pushing him away from me. I guess I had "developed" a bit more over the year, but it was a lot more noticeable in the clothes I was wearing tonight. Had I done that on purpose? You bet I did. "You're losing your _brotherly_ effect." I smiled, patting him in the arm before sitting back down. "It's really good to see you again, though."

"Yeah, you too. You're just not a little girl anymore," he said, wiping away an invisible tear before grinning again. "I'm gonna go grab something to eat, you want anything?" he asked directing his attention to Kate.

"No, I'll probably just pick off of your food," she replied shrugging. She didn't seem too happy with him. Maybe it was because he was spending more time with his bike and than his girlfriend. That explained the whole Chase thing. If she wasn't going to get attention from Pogue, she was going to get it from somebody else. That Chase was getting on my nerves already and I didn't even know him.

He nodded and left. Sarah looked at me. "You two know each other that well?" she asked motioning to Pogue's retreating figure.

"Oh, yeah. We all go way back," I said grinning and looking at Caleb who shared the same expression with me.

Sarah raised her eyebrow, obviously not understanding our humor of the situation. "We grew up together. The boys are my pretty much best friends. More like family really," I explained. It was true. They were my security blanket and the people I could confide in no matter what. It was a two way street, I was there for them as well.

"The boys?" she asked before looking like she understood. After all, there were only three other guys that hung around with Caleb.

I nodded then glanced around the bar. "Are Reid and Tyler here yet?"

"Nope," Chase replied to my question. It sort of caught me off guard, but then I remembered that he evidently must have met them already.

"But, we'll let you know," Caleb told me as he started to get up from the table.

I looked up at him in disbelief. "Where the hell are you going?"

He ignored me and spoke to Chase. "Up for a game of foosball?"

"Sure," Chase said nodding, at which point Caleb looked pointedly at me. What, did he want me to make friends with his girlfriend? What a cheap shot. I was certainly not the token chick that they sent in to find out dirt on the girls they wanted to date and I wasn't planning on starting that career now. No way in hell. If he wanted to find out if she liked him that was his job. He _was_ my cousin though, so I figured I'd at least _try_ with very little effort. It was the least I could do.

"Whatever, Danvers," I told him waving him off and rolling my eyes. "Sorry. I'm not used to staying behind with the girls. I'm usually the one kicking Caleb or Pogue's ass in foosball," I told them, trying to explain my rather rude outburst earlier.

It wasn't that I didn't like them. I was sure they were great people, nice and all, but I just couldn't sit there and do the whole talking thing. I was more of a big supporter of the more active verbs. I wanted to be out there doing something like playing with the guys; not sitting here with the girls chatting about God only knows what.

Kate smiled. "That's okay. I know it can get kind of boring sitting here while they're over there having fun."

Pogue came back over with his order of a burger, fries, and a Coke I assumed since he wouldn't touch Pepsi. He said it tasted like carbonated dirt. I didn't think so. I for one thought Coke was gross which made for several bickering arguments on who could say the worst things about the other's preferred brand of cola. I liked to think that I won quite a few of those.

"They're over by the pool table, Roxi. Try not to let Reid drool too much, okay? You know how he gets and Nicky doesn't like people getting his floor wet either," he said sending me a playful wink, grabbing a fry, and heading off in the direction of the foosball table where Caleb and Chase were laughing and looking like they were having a good time.

He was right about Reid though. He drooled and stared at almost anything female. Okay, he didn't drool, but it was obvious when he was undressing girls with his eyes halfway across the room.

I nodded. "Well, guys, I'll be back," I said smiling. I got up and left the table, the butterflies had returned for an encore and I thought I might throw up. Might. I didn't, luckily, and made it over to pool table safely. My heart skipped a beat as my eyes fell upon him. Godlike as always, my blond love interest leaned over the pool table, making a swift shot.

I made eye contact with Tyler first, who's eyes lit up and widened excitedly. I grinned. "Tyler!" I called happily before throwing my arms around his neck as he picked me off the ground. I nearly squeezed the life right out of him and him, me.

"Man, Roxi, I didn't know you were going to be here!" he told me as I kissed his cheek. "When did you get in?"

"About an hour and a half ago. And of course you didn't know. Caleb didn't want to tell you guys. I was supposed to be a surprise. How'd I do?"

He laughed as he set me back down on my feet. "I was pretty damn surprised. It's so good to see you. Are you here for good now?"

"Yep. Just moved into the spare room at Caleb's house. It's officially mine. I'm here forever and you're never going to get rid of me," I told him with a smile, poking him inn the chest.

"Great," Tyler said. "I've really missed you. I'm glad you're back."

"Yeah, it'll be just like old times." My heart jumped and my stomach flipped like a washing machine at that smooth voice. I turned around to find Reid, his eyes sliding over me.

"Reid," I breathed, a smile coming back to my face as well as a very light blush.

"Did someone miss me so much that they came back?" he asked, grinning.

I rolled my eyes dramatically, a smile tugging at the corners of my lips. "You wish," I told him.

Reid just smirked knowingly. "Well, where's my hug?" he asked, opening his arms and smirking wider.

I let the smile grace my face and I walked into his arms where I was immediately crushed into a tight embrace. I kissed his cheek. "I did miss you though." A kiss was placed on my neck before I was lifted up onto the pool table, with Reid standing between my legs. I had nearly forgotten how strong they all were getting, not that I was heavy. Reid's build was amazing and I could feel the muscles of his back through his shirt which I didn't mind for a second. I inwardly grinned at that.

He pulled back slightly to touch my face with one hand while his other remained on my waist. His blue eyes stared into mine and I almost forgot how to breathe. "You sure look different, babe." I could feel his sweet breath on my face and it was only then that I realized how close we really were. His face was only inches from mine. My head swirled with a million thoughts, but I kept it together. I couldn't let him know that he had such an effect on me.

And if he wasn't the millionth caller tonight to say that I had changed in some way. "_Bad_ different?" I asked curiously. It wouldn't matter to me either way. I liked me this way, and I didn't plan to change for anyone, not even Reid.

He shook his head. "No. Just different." The he looked down again at my attire, which stopped ironically only at my chest. Same old Reid. I shook my head at him and scowled before he looked up with that famous smirk of his again. I swear that thing never strayed too far from his face. "I kind of like you like this. Are all of your clothes this awesome?"

I sighed and pushed him back so I could hop down from the table. "You haven't changed a bit, Reid," I told him patting him on the arm. "I still love you, but…" I added shrugging playfully.

He only laughed and threw me a wink. "You know it," he replied before picking up the pool stick he had temporarily leaned against the table during our reunion and got back into the game, making another shot and knocking the nine ball into the side pocket.

I tore my eyes away from him for the moment to look at Tyler. He smiled. "So, are you up for a movie tonight?" I asked him. The five of us had gotten together to watch slasher films or action movies when I still lived here. I wasn't too much for chick flicks and obviously they weren't either. A lot of the time we ended up watching comedies after the horror movies. It made me feel better to sleep at night. I was a true chicken at heart.

Tyler nodded. "That'd be awesome. I miss our movie rituals. It's not the same without you. Whenever I try to watch a movie in the dorms, Reid can't sit still long enough to watch it. He only behaves when you're here," he said grinning jokingly.

That caused me to laugh outright. "I can't say that I've ever seen him actually _behave_. Remember that funeral a few years ago. The most somber occasion, and he was still trying to pick up some girl there." He was a wild child and he always would be. That was just Reid.

Tyler chuckled. "Oh, yeah. How could I forget?"

"Hey, I know I'm interesting and all, but do you have to talk about me when I'm right here?" Reid asked, leaning against the pool table, pool stick still in hand as he looked from me to Tyler.

"Yep," I replied. "That's what makes it fun." I glanced back at the table where the girls sat. "I better head back over to the table. I told Kate and Sarah I'd only be a minute."

Tyler and Reid nodded. "We'll be over there after a few games," Tyler told me.

"Okay. Oh and leave Sarah alone," I told Reid giving him a disapproving look. "She likes Caleb and she doesn't need to be scarred for life by you." I grinned at the last part.

"Why? You jealous?" The cocky smirk was back on his face.

"Ha!" I said rolling my eyes. "That's cute. I'll see you guys later." I gave them a slight wave and began turning around before I turned back and added. "Oh, and hey, Reid? Do you think you could you _try_ not to stare at my ass so much when I walk? It's just something I thought you could work on," I told him, shrugging and winking before turning back around to leave.

I caught a slightly surprised face before he grinned as I turned and I could hear Tyler cracking up. I fought back a laugh on my way back to the table, knowing that just telling him that made him stare all the more.

Oh yeah, it was good to be back.


	3. Arguments and Anger

**Disclaimer_: I do not own the concept or characters from the movie, "The Covenant." Any other characters not related to the movie, are mine and are NOT to be used in any other fan fictions. _**

**Author Note: **_Hey guys, I'm so sorry that I put this chapter up so late. I promise to upload the 4th chapter in the next few days to make it up to you all for waiting. Plus this one is pretty short, so I'll be posting up another for sure. I would really appreciate more reviews please to let me know how you like the story! __Thank you for reading! -IB_

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When I got back to the table I had noticed that the Sarah had snuck off to tap into some music from the juke box. Joan Jett was soon blaring and she had managed to snag Caleb away from his foosball game. I had to admit that I was a bit surprised. She didn't seem like the spontaneous type and Caleb didn't usually go for girls like that.

I took a seat, and decided to sit back and watch the show. Caleb seemed happy which was good because it was about damn time that he found someone he actually had chemistry with. All the previous girls he had taken out aspired to be trophy wives someday. It was pretty much like talking to a rock. At least rocks were a little bit more interesting compared to these girls. Needless to say, it was about time we got to see Caleb with a girl that had more personality than a dried up apricot.

Some yells broke up the fun and my thoughts. I turned to Reid and slimy Aaron Abbot shoving each other and shouting less than friendly things. Them's fightin' words. I figured it would be best to just let them get it out. There was far too much testosterone in the room at that point for them not to fight. And it was Aaron Abbot for Christ's sake. Reid hated Aaron. But then, who didn't? Nicky, of course, wouldn't appreciate people fighting in his bar, but hell, that never stopped anybody before. I heard something mentioned about going outside. Great.

I glanced back to Caleb to see him and Pogue already heading out after them through the back door. Well, I might as well follow. Somebody besides Caleb had to make sure that nobody did anything stupid. Who knew what the fight was about anyway? I supposed that I would figure out once I got outside. They wouldn't be pleased that I was out there, but that never really fazed me.

With a sigh I stood up. "We'll be back," I mumbled to Kate before walking after them and outside.

"He made the shot, dickhead." Those were the first words that I heard as I stepped out into the night. Tyler rarely spoke like that when I was around. Something about the way his mother and father raised him to watch his mouth around ladies. I tried several times to break him of his habit at least around me. Sure, it was sweet and all, but we were all friends and I thought he should be able to let loose around the guys, even if I was there. "You bet him he couldn't, and he did," he continued.

Oh, so this was about Reid cheating at pool again, huh? Well, they might as well suck it up. I had been fighting with him about that for years and obviously that solved nothing. One of these days, I hoped he would stop. He was really putting them all at risk when he used in public places like that.

Ryan, Aaron's jerk friend answered him. "We ain't paying you shit, so if you don't like it, why don't you do something about it?" He actually wasn't _that_ bad of a kid. He used to be a decent person until Aaron got a hold of him. Then he turned into a douchebag. When I was still at Spenser, we had a few together. He could be alright if he really wanted to. Apparently he didn't want to tonight because he was being an asshole. It was most likely because of Aaron, which made perfect sense; Aaron tended to bring out the worst in all of us.

"What's the problem?" Caleb asked. He immediately brought authority into his voice. He'd put an end to this whole fight right away. Caleb was the voice of reason. When people wanted to listen to him of course.

"Nothing," Aaron replied. He always sounded like an asshole for some reason.

"He bet me I couldn't make a combo shot, and I did." Reid _would_ so something like that.

"Why don't you just forget about it okay?" Caleb was trying to stop things before they got out of hand. I personally would have kicked Aaron's ass, but that was just me. And that would most likely be after I kicked Reid's ass for being so stupid as to use in front of Aaron and his gang of jerks. He certainly wasn't a person that my aunt would call 'responsible'.

I heard footsteps behind me belonging to Nicky himself. He wouldn't be too happy about the fighting regardless of whether it was inside or outside the bar. I didn't much blame him. With him was a hefty baseball bat. Now, I didn't know about the guys, but I surely didn't relish the thought of getting my ass beat by Nicky on a Saturday night.

"Hey! Take it someplace else, ladies," he said sternly slapping the bat to him hand once in a silent threat.

"Whatever you say, Nicky," Aaron replied, giving Caleb and the guys another look of loathing before running purposely into Caleb's shoulder. Ass. His goons followed him back into the bar, passing me as I was standing near the door. He glanced at me and threw me a wink, which I guess he thought was somehow flattering or flirty. It wasn't. He probably didn't even remember me. I rolled my eyes and bit back the nasty remark that sat on my tongue. It would only cause more issues right now. I'd wait until school though; he wasn't getting off that easily.

As soon as the door closed behind them, Caleb started in. "What were you thinking?" Right away I knew this was a bad idea. Caleb and Reid didn't completely mix well together, like water and oil, _especially_ when Reid was being rebellious. In this case, a fight had just been prevented for another to start among "family," if you will.

"We were just playing 'em," Reid replied shrugging. Clearly he didn't see the threat of exposure. It seemed he never did. Reid lived on the edge and relished pushing boundaries. I rolled my eyes for the second time in the last two minutes and pushed myself off of the bar wall where I was leaning. At least I could attempt to keep them from fighting.

"Yeah, c'mon, Caleb. They were suckers for it," Tyler added. I wasn't so sure that helped their case any.

Immediately the alarm in my mind went off as Reid walked up to Caleb. That certain glint was in his eye and I knew he was about to pick a fight. Great. Here I was, my first day back, and I was already witnessing a fight between them. I wondered if it got worse when I left. "Why don't you stop being such a pussy," he hissed.

"Guys," I said stepping closer to the two, ready to intervene. There wasn't much I could actually _do_ to break them up if they were going to start using, but I liked think so.

Reid glanced at me before starting to walk past Caleb; however Caleb grabbed Reid's shoulder. "I'm not finished with you yet." The next thing happened so quickly: Reid's blue eyes bled to obsidian and he grabbed Caleb's wrist off of him. From where I was standing, I could literally see Caleb's flesh crawling from the power Reid was emitting.

"_Reid_, what the hell?" I said getting pissed. It just wasn't right for them to use on each other. Had things really got that tense between them since I had been gone? Nobody even acknowledged that I spoke. They were too enthralled with what was going on between Caleb and Reid. I wanted to grab Reid's hand off of Caleb, but he was too angry and I didn't think there was much I could do.

"Reid, stop," Caleb gritted out. He gave it a second before his eyes too turned black and he shoved the air in front of Reid with such a force that Reid was airborne before he hit the metal wall of the next building. "What will it take for you to get it? It's addictive, you moron! You've seen what it can do if you abuse it. You want that? It's your business. But if you use in the open like you did tonight then you risk exposing us all. And I won't let that happen."

They were both being incredibly stupid. How was flinging each other around in the alley not risking exposure? Quite frankly, I kind of wanted to punch them both right then and there. Reid recovered, standing back up and levitating a barrel that just happened to be in the area. This was ridiculous.

"My power's greater than yours," Caleb told him. So what? Was this now like some kind of pissing contest? A "my dick's bigger than yours" kind of thing? Fucking men.

"Not until you ascend," Reid replied stubbornly.

Caleb shook his head before waving him on. "All right, go for it, tough guy."

"Don't," I said. Again, no one listened.

Reid flung the can. Caleb blocked it, knocking it off to the side, and threw another force of power at Reid, causing him to fly back into a stack of plastic crates filled with empty glass bottles. Caleb started walking toward Reid with his eyes still black. Okay, this had gone far enough.

Pogue must have thought the same because he ran up and grabbed Caleb holding him back from Reid. "Stop it! This is crazy."

"It's for his own good." Was the only response from Caleb.

"No, this is just getting fucking ridiculous," I said glaring at Caleb and walking over with Tyler to see if Reid was okay. "How is beating the shit out of each other good? Seriously. What the fuck is wrong with you guys?" I snapped at the both of them.

Caleb looked slightly hurt at my words as Pogue still fought to hold him back. I guess he expected me to be on his side about this, but how could I? I mean, yeah, I was pissed that Reid used, but Caleb using on Reid was just making him a hypocrite. His stony expression returned quickly though when he looked at blond who was being helped out of the glass by Tyler. "Keep using like you did tonight and last night. When you ascend, you'll be good as dead."

"So I fixed her car. Big deal!" Reid replied, brushing the shards of glass off of himself.

"Don't play me, Reid! I'm talking later and you know it," Caleb replied. Pogue worked on moving him farther away from Reid.

Suddenly, Reid pushed poor Tyler off of him, looking pissed off again. I stepped forward and closer to Reid. All we needed was for them to start using again. If I thought he was going to something stupid again, I'd have to punch him. "The hell I do!" he said getting into Caleb's face. "I didn't use _later_." He knocked both Caleb and Pogue out of his way as he headed back into Nicky's.

Tyler frowned. I shook my head in disapproval of the entire thing and Caleb ran a hand over his face, sighing in exasperation. "It's not right using on each other, Caleb," Tyler told him.

"Tell it to Reid," he replied.

I touched Tyler's arm before he left. "Hey, wait for me, okay?" I asked. I figured he and Reid would probably get out of there and head back to the dorms. I hadn't seen them for very long before all of this shit happened, so I thought why not? He nodded with a weak smile and went in through the door.

"I can't believe you, Caleb," I told him frowning and crossing my arms under my chest. "How can you bitch at Reid for using and then use on him? How the hell is that setting 'an example'?" I used air quotes to stress just how much he preached about not using, but then as soon as Reid uses on him, he uses back and almost doesn't even stop.

"How can you defend him, Roxanne?" he asked frowning as well. He only used Roxanne when we were fighting. It seemed like everybody did.

"I'm not. What he did was freaking wrong and I'm pissed as hell, but I just can't believe that _you_ of all people would retaliate in the way that you did," I explained. "Anyway, I'm leaving with Reid and Tyler. Don't wait up; I'll get a ride back."

I had said my piece and that was that. It was between Reid and Caleb and I wasn't getting anymore involved than I already was. I loved them both and I didn't want to be in the middle of it. I kissed Pogue's cheek in a good-bye and hugged Caleb. "Just go home and cool off. Take Sarah home. Maybe getting rid of some of that sexual frustration will do you some good," I said grinning. As mad as I was, I was still happy to be back with everyone and I still couldn't resist teasing him before I left. Hopefully, the fight would just blow over as usual.

Pogue chuckled at that and I even got a weak twitch of Caleb's lips in response. I walked back to the door, my heels clicking in the silence before I opened the door to the smell of smoke and the sound of loud music that filled the void of dead air outside. I didn't bother saying good-bye to the girls or Chase. I'd let Caleb and Pogue handle the questions.

When I reached Tyler's black Hummer, I found said male nowhere to be found and Reid leaning up against the front of it with his arms crossed, waiting for me. "So nice of you to join us," he said smirking.

"Oh, so sorry to keep you waiting for three whole minutes. You're life is just _so_ hard," I replied dramatically before I slapped him playfully in the arm. I lowered my voice. "Are you okay? Nothing's broken or anything, right?" I asked concerned.

His face changed from playful to soft. "Nah, I'm fine. Not even a scratch." Then his face turned sly. "However, you're more than welcome to do a full body search yourself, but please _do_ be thorough," he said with a wink and a grin.

I snorted and rolled my eyes. "Get in the car, Glass Ass." Tyler walked out of Nicky's a second later. "Hey, Tyler," I said as I walked to the passenger door and hopped inside. Reid and Tyler dispersed to opposite sides of the car; Reid in the driver's seat and Tyler sitting in the back.

"How does that work?" I asked confused once we were on the road.

"What?" Reid answered, his eyes still on the road.

"You, you're driving. This is Tyler's truck, how did _you_ end up driving it?" I asked.

"He drives too slow," he replied grinning.

"No, I don't. I doubt you'd even know, since you never let me drive anyway," Tyler said annoyed from behind me.

"Figures," I muttered with a smile on my face. At least things were normal with Tyler and Reid.

"So, you guys up for a movie?" I asked as Reid pulled the Hummer into a parking spot close to the doors of the dorms.

He killed the engine and looked at me. "_A_ movie? Just one? Are you kidding? When have we ever just watched _one_?" he asked incredulously, a smile on his face.

"True, but Caleb will wonder where I am if I stay out all night," I replied unbuckling my seatbelt.

"So what? Tyler will drive you home afterwards," he said motioning to Tyler with a smirk.

"What? Why can't _you_ drive out at four in the morning and take her home?" Tyler asked exasperated. "No offense, Roxi, but I plan on sleeping, thanks."

Reid shrugged in a response. "Then spend the night, Rox."

I raised an eyebrow. Spending the night was the last thing that Caleb would want, but too bad. I planned on doing what I felt like doing. At that moment, I felt like staying up late watching movies and spending the night with my friends. Where was the harm in that? Where would I sleep? Well, I'd figure it out when the time came.

"Sure, okay," I finally told him and Reid victoriously grinned in response before hopping out of the truck and closing the door. Tyler and I followed in suit. What was I getting myself into?


	4. Sleepovers and Butterflies

**Disclaimer_: I do not own the concept or characters from the movie, "The Covenant." Any other characters not related to the movie, are mine and are NOT to be used in any other fan fictions. I also don't own The Ring or South Park._**

**Author Note: **_I want to start by saying **thanks for the reviews **I recieved! I also__ apologize for the late update. I was on vacation and I didn't realize there wouldn't be any WiFi or internet whatsoever. I promise to upload the 5th chapter in the next few days to make it up to you guys for waiting so long. I would really appreciate **more reviews please **to let me know how you like the story! __Thank you for reading! -IB_

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It finally hit home how much I had missed them as we chatted and poked fun at the movies we watched. Tyler had crashed on his bed by the end of the third movie, so I ended up lying with my back resting again the headboard of Reid's bed as the end credits started to roll. Now, it was just him and me.

"I still get the creeps from that movie," I told him, shaking my head and putting the pillow down that I had used to hide behind. It smelled of Reid and it made me smile to myself. The shirt and sweatpants that I had borrowed for the night smelled like laundry soap.

"Seriously? It's not even scary, Rox. It's just some girl who comes out of a TV and leaks water all over the place. How does_ that_ creep you out?" Reid asked a smirk on his face as he got up to change the DVD.

"What the hell are you talking about? You jumped when she popped up out of nowhere, too," I replied crossing my arms over my chest.

Reid looked back at me momentarily. "No, I didn't. Besides, you're lucky I was here to grab onto when things got too scary for you," he shot back, grinning smugly and wiggling his eyebrows. So, I had grabbed onto his arm a few times when I got freaked out. Big deal. I guess he wasn't going let me live it down.

I rolled my eyes in a response that he didn't see as his back was to me. It was a good thing, too, as I was sure my cheeks were painted pink with embarrassment. As he placed another DVD in the player, I realized that I had no clue which one and he hadn't let me pick anything yet.

"What are you putting in now?" I asked curiously, shifting to sit up more on the bed.

"It's a surprise," he answered, standing up and hitting the play button. He smiled as he plopped back down on his bed.

"Is it a good surprise or a bad surprise?" I asked. "You know I don't like surprises _at all_, Reid."

His smiled widened. "I know." I guessed that was about all the answer I was going to get, so I settled back against the headboard and the comfy pillows that resided there. The start-up menu came on and Reid clicked on the "play all" feature.

"South Park?" I asked him as the South Park theme song started up.

"Yeah, I figured you could use something to keep your mind off of the other movies we watched even though they weren't half as scary as you made them out to be," he told him, nudging my side playfully.

"Oh, shut up." I smiled though, happy that he remembered how funny movies or shows made me feel better after watching something scary. As the beginning of the episode started, I muttered a quick "thanks" before curling up next to him.

"Sure thing, Rox." He put his arm around me and pulled me closer to his side in a one-armed hug. "It's really good to have you back, you know? We've all been going crazy without you," he mumbled into my hair.

I hugged him back as much as I could from the position we were in. "I really missed you, too. Trust me; it wasn't just you guys that were going crazy. I would have come back sooner for sure, if I had had the chance," I replied sighing lightly. Things would have been so much better had I not ever left, but then again, perhaps Reid wouldn't have kissed me and gave me that small spark of hope. Thinking of that kiss had my face heating up again. Reid of course, chose that opportune moment to look down and see my pink cheeks.

He chuckled at me. "What's with you blushing so much? I mean, sure it's cute, but when have you ever been this embarrassed around me?" he asked poking my cheek bone where I was sure the pink was most prominent. "Didn't those dudes in Italy corrupt you?"

I felt my face get warmer and I wasn't sure if it was because he had called me cute or because he was asking me about other guys. "No!" I replied pushing him off of me and sitting up, frowning down at him.

"What did I say?" he asked sitting up as well. His face turned from confused to realization. "You're telling me that the entire time you were away, you didn't hook up with one of those _suave_ Italian dudes or any of those guys in Chicago?" Reid said "suave" with a teasing grin.

I shook my head in disgust. "Of course not!" It was mostly because I had been too absorbed in trying to figure out Reid's feelings for me after that kiss. I hadn't really been able to keep it off of my mind during my stay away from home. My mind always found its way back to thinking about it, so I hadn't had much time to think about other boys. Sure, there were a few guys that might have caught my eye if my mind wasn't so full of confused feelings. I'd even been asked out a few times. I tried flirting, but I kept thinking about how Reid and I used to flirt and that put an abrupt end to things. "I mean, no."

Part of me was just homesick, but I think another part of me was Reidsick. Heartsick. Possibly lovesick, though I wasn't so sure if I was in love with him. Then again, I wouldn't admit it to myself yet, even if I was.

Reid chuckled again before I shushed him to not wake Tyler, though after my outburst I was surprise he wasn't already awake. "Why are you so amused about that?"

"I'm just surprised that's all."

"What the hell is so surprising about that?" I asked him getting defensive.

He shrugged. "It's just that, a hot girl in a foreign country with all those European dudes everywhere in the summer and the city guys… I don't know. I thought they'd or at least _one_ of them would have snatched you up while you were there."

I looked away for a moment collecting myself. I hated how I was acting like a blushing little school girl around him lately. I wasn't sure how much more obvious my body's involuntary reactions to him would become before he figured out that I liked him. I had to get some control over my emotions. It was just hard because this had been the only contact alone I had with Reid since I had been back. I couldn't just blush at every little thing; it wasn't like me at all.

I met Reid's eyes when I felt calm enough to reply. "Well, I don't know. Mom and Dad wanted me to focus more on school and they acted funny about me going out. Plus, it would have been stupid to start anything when I was coming back here at some point."

There wasn't any better of an excuse that I could use. I couldn't tell him that I had been so homesick that I barely went out with the friends that I had made in Chicago. I didn't have the same relationship with them as I had with my boys. They were my real friends and my real family. I couldn't help but to compare them to the new ones that I had been making. Which was the main problem when it came to boys as well. Not only was my heart in the wrong place at the time, but I couldn't stop comparing the potential suitors to Reid. Ugh. The whole thing was a big mess.

I wasn't sure when Reid and I would talk about that kiss, but he didn't seem like he was going to bring it up anytime soon and so I wasn't either. As much as I wanted to, I was afraid of rejection. It might have been a mistake on his end and I couldn't handle hearing that right now. Not at this moment when things were going so well.

"I guess that makes sense," Reid replied shrugging again. "Still, if it had been _me_, I would've been out every night."

I frowned at his statement. Although it rang true, because Reid certainly _would_ have been all over any girl that passed by, it still stung a bit to hear. "Yeah, I know." I felt… disappointed. I loved Reid the way he was, but there were some things about Reid, I just wished weren't a part of him.

I allowed myself to rest against the headboard and pillows once more and I focused on the TV where Kenny was getting killed… for like the 400th time. It always entertained me that Kenny was killed in nearly every episode of South Park. Getting slightly distracted, I felt a small smile come to my face as I continued watching.

"Sorry."

"Huh?" I looked at Reid who to my surprise was looking sheepish. That was the rarest expression he could have. "For what?" I asked my attention fully on him now.

"For making you uncomfortable," he told me, running his hand through his blond hair.

I reached up and took his hand in mine, wishing he would stop fidgeting. "Hey, you didn't make me uncomfortable. It's no big deal," I told him, shrugging it off like it was nothing. I hadn't meant to make things weird between us. "Can we just—?"

"Chill and forget the whole conversation?" he asked, a smile creeping onto his face finally. "Yeah."

I nodded and snuggled back against his side with a sigh as I felt his arm come back around me. I took a moment just breathing in Reid's fresh scent. It gave me butterflies and I felt my heart flutter in response.

On the bed only feet away, Tyler groaned and rolled over. Reid and I looked at each other before grinning, and I tried to muffle my laugh into Reid's chest. Leave it to Tyler whether he was awake or asleep to break the remaining tension between us. When we had settled down, we actually focused on watching South Park. Reid's breathing began to even out by the end of the episode and I glanced up to see his face completely relaxed as he slept. He looked adorable. I reached up and brushed a stay strand of blond from his face before laying my head back down on his chest and drifting off myself.

I had to admit it now: I had fallen.

Caleb must have realized that I wasn't at home in my newly furnished room because my phone went off around 7:30. I tried to ignore the ringing, but it had been so obnoxiously loud that I was forced to answer it. Apparently Reid and Tyler weren't too amused either because both had less than pleased reactions.

I tried to move to get it out of my boot that lay on the floor across the room where I had left it last night with my other clothes, but I found myself pinned to the bed. I looked down to see an arm draped over my waist like a dead weight. I turned to look at Reid, whose face was very close to mine and his blue eyes opened at that exact moment.

He grinned. "Are you gonna answer that?"

I sighed quietly, lifted his arm off me, and rolled out of bed, ignoring the quickened pace of my heartbeat at our closeness and his grin that made me melt.

"Hello?" I asked, already knowing who it was just by a guess. It also helped that I peeked at the caller ID before answering.

"Where are you?" Caleb's voice sounded irritated.

"At the dorms with Reid and Tyler. I told you not to wait up," I replied nonchalantly. My eyes wandered over to Reid who was sitting propped up on a pillow, grinning at me still... with no shirt on, the covers lying as high as his waist. I had no clue when he had taken it off, but I had to keep my jaw from dropping.

He looked, for lack of better words, _incredibly_ _sexy_. His hair was lightly disheveled from sleep and I almost couldn't tear my eyes from him. He must have noticed because his grin widened. I stuck my tongue out in response to which he winked. I felt my cheeks begin to warm up again as a rush of butterflies collectively danced around in my stomach again. It seemed that they had woken up along with me.

In my heated embarrassment (I really had to get a grip on that), I looked away listening to Caleb speaking on the phone. "What?" I asked because I hadn't quite caught that last thing he had said. Something or other about at least texting him to let him know I was alive. I hadn't even been listening as I was trying to get that image of Reid out of my head enough to cool myself off and focus on Caleb.

I heard a sigh on the other side of the line. "I said that you could have let me know that you were spending the night there. I thought you were just hanging out for a bit and then coming home. I got worried," Caleb replied.

"Sorry, Caleb. I sort of lost track of time and I hadn't even thought of texting you or anything like that. I guess I'll come home soon if you want me to." I had barely spent any time with my cousin since I had gotten back and I felt bad about it. I loved hanging out with Caleb. Sure, we were going to be living in the same house now, but still. "Do you want to hang out today?" I asked him as I noticed the shower in the bathroom was on.

Glancing over to Reid's bed, I realized that he wasn't it in anymore. Tyler was still snoozing soundly. I guess he had went back to sleep after I answered the phone.

He paused for a moment. "Actually, yeah. What do you want to do?"

I thought for a moment. "I don't know. We'll figure it out when I get there," I said to him, trying to think of places to go.

"Sure. Are you getting a ride back over here or do I need to come and get you?"

"I think Reid or Tyler could probably take me home. If not, I'll give you a call," I told him. I was really wishing that I had my car here and not sitting at Caleb's being unused.

"Okay, let me know."

We said our good-byes and hung up. Seeing as Tyler was completely out (he always was a heavy sleeper), I decided that it would be alright if I changed back into my original clothes before we left so that I could give Reid his clothes back. I pulled the t-shirt over my head just as I heard the shower turn off. I tossed it onto Reid's bed and put my own vest corset back on. I dropped the sweatpants, kicking them off and throwing them onto the bed as well. I stepped into my jeans and was just pulling them up over my knees when the bathroom door opened and there stood Reid in nothing but a towel.

I froze and he stopped in the doorway. We just stared at each other for a second. My eyes wandered from his face to his toned body adorned with water droplets coming from his wet hair. I could have died and went to heaven. I thought for a moment that I had. When I looked back up at his face, his eyes were on my bare legs and no doubt my panties. I unfroze, clearing my throat as I finished pulling my jeans up my legs before buttoning them and zipping them up. Reid only smirked at me as he made his way to his dresser drawers.

"So what'd Caleb have to say?" he inquired taking some clothes out of a drawer and snagging a sweatshirt off of the top of the dresser.

I sat down on the bed, folding the clothes I had worn and set them in a pile. "Not too much. Can you drive me home when you're fully clothed?" I asked grinning at him.

"Are you sure you don't want me to drive you home naked?" I could tell that there was a grin on his face even as he walked back into the bathroom, keeping the door slightly open so he could hear me.

I snorted. "Yes, I'm sure. Caleb wants to spend time with me today. I don't know what we'll end up doing. Any ideas?" I asked quietly, but loud enough that he could hear me through the door. I still didn't want to wake up Tyler.

"How about the lake?" he called from the bathroom.

I smiled. I hadn't thought about the lake in a while. We used to go down there and hang out sometimes on the beach. It was one of our main places to go when we were younger. "That's a great idea," I said as he came out, towel-drying his hair before tossing the wet towel on Tyler.

"Get up, baby boy," he called as he snatched the keys to the Hummer off Tyler's nightstand and opened the door for me.

Tyler groaned and threw the towel off of him. "What the hell?" he asked groggily.

"I'm leaving, Ty," I told him patting his shoulder gently as I walked by his bed. "See you guy tomorrow."

"Later, Rox," he said giving me a slight wave.

I smiled as I walked out the door followed by Reid. We hopped in the truck and headed off to Caleb's house. I didn't know why I kept referring to it as Caleb's house when it was my house now, too. I was no longer just a guest; I was a resident.

We pulled into the driveway and Reid put the truck in park. "Did you get your schedule yet?" he asked turning to me.

"Yeah, it's in the house I think. I'll call you later and we'll compare," I said, already knowing what he was inquiring about. It was something that we always did to make sure that we had some classes together. I guess you could say that we helped get each other through the boring school day.

Reid smiled. "Then I'll talk to you later, Rox." He leaned over and kissed my cheek.

I smiled as my heart fluttered about for the tenth time in the last 12 hours. "Yeah, thanks for the ride!" I replied as I opened the door and hopped out. I stood in the doorway for a second before I blew him a kiss and closed the door. I felt my cheek tingling where he had kissed me and smiled to myself as I walked up to the door. I turned back and gave him a wave before going inside.

That kiss on the cheek had me confused almost as much as before, but I loved the feel of his lips.

Oh, boy, I was in deep.


	5. Talks and Memories

**Disclaimer_: I do not own the concept or characters from the movie, "The Covenant" or Harry Potter. Any other characters not related to the movie, are mine and are NOT to be used in any other fan fictions._**

**Author Note: **_Enjoy! __**Please don't forget to review!** __Thank you for reading and **thanks so much to those who've been reviewing**! -IB_

* * *

When I turned around to look at the interior of the house, I was immediately met with a frowning Caleb as he looked at me. He was in his grey sweats that I assumed he had slept in.

"What's wrong, Cal?" I asked him, using the nickname I had for him when we were very young and I couldn't say his name very well. I was hoping that it would shake him from the mood I could see him getting in.

"Nothing," he replied dragging his hands over his face in the same tired way I had seen him do last night after fighting with Reid. He looked back up at me. "Have you eaten yet?"

I shook my head before following him into the kitchen. The smell of bacon and eggs wafted through the air and made my stomach growl. I hadn't realized I was really hungry until now. There had been way too much on my mind earlier and I thought that maybe if I got some food in my stomach, the butterflies would chill out a bit. I probably wouldn't notice them again until Reid came around anyway.

The maid had obviously been there earlier this morning to cook this. Auntie Evelyn had kept her around to keep up on things at the house since she obviously couldn't do it herself. She was gone for the day, so I made myself a plate adorned with two pieces of bacon and some scrambled eggs. I took my plate into the large dinning room and plopped down in my favorite seat. Caleb sat down with a sigh across from me.

"So what's up?" I asked trying to break the weird tension that was between us. Seriously, what was his problem today?

"You tell me," he replied folding his arms across this chest.

I furrowed my eyebrows. "About?"

He sighed again. "Nevermind. We'll talk about it later. Just eat and get dressed. Did you decide what you wanted to do?"

I munched on a piece of bacon before answering him. "Can we go to the lake?" I asked tentatively. I didn't want to make him more upset than he obviously already was.

He smiled slightly. "Sure. I'm going upstairs to take a shower. We'll meet by the front door in a half an hour."

I nodded. He headed out of the dining room and upstairs, leaving me to my thoughts. I had no idea what was making him look so grim today. He had seemed fine when I was on the phone with him, but perhaps he was still upset about me sleeping over at the dorms with Reid and Tyler? Or was he still thinking about that fight he had with Reid and how it appeared that I was betraying him by hanging out with Reid last night? I couldn't be sure, so I'd pry it out of him later.

I glanced down at my plate to find that I had eaten almost everything on it. I figured even in my endless thoughts, I had remained eating subconsciously. I sighed and pushed myself away from the table, picking up my plate, and going back into the kitchen to put my plate in the sink. I went upstairs to my room and gathered some clothes for the day before undressing and hoping into the shower.

I was finished with my shower quickly. Stepping out feeling refreshed and squeaky clean. After I had dried off and got dressed my light blue jeans and black hooded sweatshirt, I dried my hair deciding to leave it curly today. I had naturally curly hair, but I tried to straighten it whenever I had time. I was only going to the lake, what did it matter what my hair looked like?

Throwing on some white and cyan Vans, I grabbed my phone from my other pants that I had thrown into the hamper. Just as I was about to open the door, a knock sounded on the wood barrier.

"Roxi, you ready?" Caleb asked from the other side of the door.

I opened the door and smiled. "Sure."

The lake was just as I remembered. It seemed like it was one of the only things here in Ipswitch that hadn't changed on me. The car ride there had been pretty quiet, filled mostly with the music drifting in through the speakers. I still had yet to figure out what was bothering Caleb. I knew _something_ was on his mind by the tense expression plastered on his face the whole way to the lake.

When we had got to the lake, we got out of the car and headed to our spot. It was just a small clearing surrounded by trees that looked out onto the water. It was always the coolest place and it was slightly secluded which made it easier for us to talk without worrying whether or not somebody would overhear us speaking about the covenant. It was where we had all met up a few months after Caleb ascended. When I had finally accepted the situation they were all in.

Caleb and I had taken a seat on the cool grass next to each other. Things were still silent until I decided to speak. "Cal, will you please talk to me about what's going on? Is it something that _I_ did?"

He sighed and took some time before actually answering me. "No, Rox. It's nothing that _you_ did. There are just some things involving the covenant right now. Somebody's using big time. I just have to figure out what's going on."

I frowned. Somebody was using _big time_? What the hell did that mean? "Is everything okay? I mean, what do you mean 'big time'?" I asked.

He shook his head. "Don't worry about it. I'll let you know what's going on more when I figure it out for myself. I was just worried when you didn't come home last night, but you're okay. Let's not talk about it right now," he said, smiling lightly.

No wonder he was so uptight this morning. Caleb tended to carry the world on his shoulders and because something was going wrong somewhere involving somebody using, he felt it his responsibility to take care of it. Poor Caleb. I had a horrible feeling in my gut about the whole situation. Who was using like that behind Caleb's back? Deep down, I was praying that it wasn't Reid at any point.

Caleb shifted out of the corner of my eye and I snapped out of my thoughts to look at him. His smile was starting to fade as he spoke next. "So, what did you guys do last night?"

"Just watched some movies. Tyler was the first to fall asleep and the last to get up this morning, as usual," I replied grinning. Tyler loved his sleep, but who could blame him. Hell, I tried to sleep in as much as I could. Plus, tomorrow was school. I mentally groaned about that. That meant getting up bright and early tomorrow. Right now I was running on five hours of sleep and it sucked.

Caleb smiled, but it faltered again. "I saw you guys in the car today," he said casually.

I was startled at that thinking back to Reid kissing my cheek. That wasn't so bad. "You were watching out the window?" I asked. As annoyed as I was with that little confession of his, I couldn't help but to smile at his over protectiveness. Sometimes it was just amusing.

He looked flustered and embarrassed for a moment, looking away from me and watching the lake. "Er, I was waiting for you to get back and I just happened to see him kiss you," he mumbled still looking like he wished he hadn't said anything.

"It was just on my cheek, Caleb. Chill out. It's not like we were naked or anything," I said.

He grimaced, pinching the bridge of his nose like he was trying to will that sudden horrific image out of his mind. "Yeah, well, that's good I guess."

I laughed at my cousin's obvious distaste for the subject at hand. "You don't have to get all weird about it. Reid and I are just friends," I said, finishing quietly. It hurt my feelings to say it out loud. Even if we weren't friends, Reid wasn't looking for a relationship. That just wasn't him and as much as I wished I could change that, I wasn't so sure I'd be able to.

Caleb sighed before looking at me seriously. "I really wish it wasn't Reid, Roxi."

It was my turn to sigh now. "I know, but I can't help how I feel. Sometimes I wish it wasn't Reid, too." And I did. Things would have been so much easier if I hadn't fallen for Reid, but it was too late now.

"I just don't think he'll ever change. I mean, maybe he will, but I don't trust him with you," he told him, putting his hand on my shoulder. "I don't want to see you get hurt."

I frowned, but nodded all the same. I wasn't sure what to say.

I didn't want to see me get hurt either. I could feel my frown deepen. Reid probably had zero feelings for me like that. And all of those times I felt like he had, he was just being his flirty self, right? God, I was so confused. I was torn between what to do and it was killing me. I'd have to think of something soon. It was hard being in love with your best friend and not letting him know it. It was even harder to know that he was not the relationship type to be revealing my feelings for.

"What's on your mind?" Caleb asked me.

I just shook my head. "I don't know. I'm not sure what to do about him." Hearing my own voice, I sounded down. I didn't like that.

He must have noticed because he pulled me into a side hug. "Don't worry about all of this, Rox. Things will work out for the best in the end, I'm sure. Hey, if it doesn't and if you want, I'll kick his ass for you," he added, grinning at me.

I smiled. "Thanks, Caleb, but I don't think I need to see an instant replay of last night."

"Nobody said you had to watch," he replied shrugging, still grinning.

I playfully shoved him as I laughed. Despite the inner turmoil I was dealing with, Caleb and I had a pretty fun day. The rest of it was filled with laughter and reminiscing of our younger years.

We had just finished dinner that the maid (I found out her name was Jane) had prepared when my cell had went off. She made Chicken Vesuvio tonight. It was absolutely delicious and I thought I could certainly get used to this kind of eating. I excused myself from Caleb and my aunt (she was already on her second scotch for the night, I doubt if she'd mind it if I left) before going out the dining room door.

Reid's name flashed across the screen. "Hello?" I asked curiously. I thought I had told him _I_ would call _him_.

"Hey. What's going on?" he asked.

I shrugged even though he couldn't see it as I answered, "Just finished dinner. Are you calling about my schedule?"

"Yeah. I was pretty bored here. Nothing's on TV and Baby Boy's out on some kind of date or something, I thought I'd call you early," Reid replied.

I raised an eyebrow. "He's on a date? How come you're not on one, too? It's not like you to sit in your room all by yourself."

"Yeah, well, I didn't feel like it," he mumbled into the mouth piece like he was unsure of himself and he didn't want to take a chance on someone else hearing him utter those words. He cleared his throat. "So are you gonna tell me what classes you have or what?"

He _didn't feel like it_? When the hell had Reid ever not felt like going out with girls? Was he sick? That was the only plausible reason for his strange disinterest in going out. And it wasn't that it was a school night. That never stopped Reid before. Hell, not much ever really did stop him.

"You sick or something?"

"Schedule, Rox," was his reply. It didn't seem like I would be getting a straight answer.

"Fine, hang on." I walked upstairs and snatched my schedule from my desk. I had been checking it out earlier. "Okay, got it." I read the list down to Reid.

"We've got English, math, study hall, and lunch together, so that's something," he told me.

I grinned. "Good. That would have been pretty shitty if we weren't in anything together."

He grunted in response. "You ready for tomorrow?"

I sighed, something I had been doing a lot today. "I guess. How ready can you be for school anyway?"

"Yep, you're right. It'll be the same as before for you," he said. "Listen, I got to go, but I'll see you tomorrow morning."

"Yeah, same here. Good night."

"Night, babe." Click.

Night _babe_? I mean, sure he had called me babe before, but something about the way he _said_ it this time had me feeling… hopeful? I wasn't sure what the feeling exactly was, but it was good. And there were those damn butterflies again. Then I thought of the conversation I had had earlier with Caleb and the butterflies settled down.

I ran a hand through my hair. I was getting mixed signals from Reid, but that was normal. So, I still doubted my luck and the idea I had a chance. I was driving myself insane with trying to figure everything out. I might as well just forget about the whole thing for a while. It would do me some good to relax and take my mind of things.

I pulled the seventh Harry Potter book from my bag on the floor. I smiled to myself as I opened to my bookmarked page and lay down on my stomach on my soft bed. Reid hated Harry Potter. He said it was because Harry had nothing on the covenant and he was just some lame little wizard.

I remembered the times that the boy wizard had really gotten on Reid's nerves. We were fourteen, sitting in the shade at the lake and I was tired of him picking on Harry and his friends for the last time.

"_I mean, he's not even real, Roxi."_

"_So what? I think he's awesome. You've never given the story a chance, Reid," I told him trying to start reading again. He had made me lose my place about five times already. It felt like we had had this conversation a million times before. Or at least whenever I was reading one of the books in his presence._

"_I don't know what you think is so interesting about him," he said seriously, looking at me with his adorable blue eyes._

_I put the book down. "I just like reading the books. You're being kind of ridiculous, don't you think? You can't seriously be jealous of Harry Potter, a fictional wizard."_

_His face turned smug. "Of course, I'm not jealous of somebody who doesn't exist. If he were real, he wouldn't be much competition anyway. If I wanted you, I could have you."_

_I scoffed. "Yeah, I don't think so. I think I'd prefer Harry," I said grinning playfully._

_He scowled before his expression turned sly. "That's it," he said standing up and grabbing my book off of my lap. "Harry Potter's day has come." He started walking off with it._

_"__Where the hell are you going with that?" I asked jumping up from my seat on the ground. _

_"F__or a swim," he replied grinning at me._

_"__Reid Garwin! You'd better not!" I yelled as I chased him across the shore._

I'd ended up getting Harry Potter safely back under the shade of the tree after I had tackled Reid to the ground. Okay, so it was a pretty bad attempt at a tackle, but hey, I had to save Harry. That memory still made me smile.

I had read a few chapters before there was a knock on my door.

"Come in."

Caleb's head peeked in and smiled. "Night."

I smiled. "Good night, Cal." I gave him a wave and he closed the door.

Glancing at the clock, I saw that it was ten o'clock. It was time for me to go to bed. I had to get up and take a shower in the morning. I really didn't like mornings, but I would deal with it and get ready like a zombie as I usually did on school days.

I flipped off the light on the nightstand and set my book down as well. Closing my eyes, I finally felt my mind at ease and I was actually looking forward to school tomorrow. I'd see how things panned out then. For now, I just needed to rest. Tomorrow was going to be a big day.


	6. Harmless Flirting

**Disclaimer_: I do not own the concept or characters from the movie, "The Covenant." Any other characters not related to the movie, are mine and are NOT to be used in any other fan fictions._**

**Author Note: **_Hey guys, here's another chapter. I'll be updating again soon!__ Enjoy! **Please don't forget to review!** __Thank you for reading and **thanks so much to those who've been reviewing**! -IB_

* * *

My alarm went off annoyingly as ever the next morning at a lovely 6 o'clock. I had nearly turned it off and went back to sleep before I realized today was an actual school day. I took a shower after I had managed to drag myself out of bed. I briefly wondered how Tyler was doing this morning with the early rising.

Since I hadn't set my alarm for an early enough time (I wanted to be greedy with my sleep), I didn't have enough time to completely get ready. It took a while to do my hair since it was so think, not to mention long. It almost reached the middle of my back and biceps. I left it curly once again and I was beginning to see a pattern of curly hair and laziness. Oh well, I'd live. Curly hair wasn't so bad and I was done with everything in about thirty minutes.

I threw on my Spenser uniform… Oh, how I missed that. Not. I'd much rather be in blue jeans and a hoodie, but that wasn't in Spenser's dress code. I had gotten a new uniform this year as I did every year. Uniforms consisted of a tucked in white shirt, grey vest, burgundy tie, and an above-the-knee skirt. Spenser wasn't one to show off legs and I was surprised that they hadn't changed the skirts to make them go to the floor. I slipped on some black flats and went down for breakfast.

Again I smelled delicious bacon cooking in the kitchen as I descended the stairs. This morning, Jane's specialty dish was an egg omelet. I had her add ham and cheese to mine. What was an omelet without ham and cheese? I took my usual seat across from Caleb who was enjoying his omelet and whatever it contained.

As I nibbled on a piece of bacon, I noticed Auntie Ev wasn't down this early in the morning. It wasn't all that surprising seeing as how she had probably stayed up late drinking far more than she had at dinner. It wouldn't surprise me. She had taken Uncle William's bad power trip really hard. Everyone had. My father included.

My dad was Uncle William's younger brother and although he wasn't gifted with the powers of the Covenant, he never harbored bad feelings toward him. In fact, my dad had told me stories about how close he and my uncle were. Caleb's father never treated him any different or any lesser just because he didn't have any powers.

It made me smile to think that they were probably about as close as Caleb and I were. I missed my uncle. I hadn't known him for very long before he went down the wrong path of power and ended up at the colony house. I had to have been around seven or eight at least when he was unable to take care of himself any longer. I used to go with Caleb to see him sometimes.

My aunt hadn't been up there to see him in a while, or so Caleb had told me. We weren't really sure if she had made it out to see him when neither of us was around. The whole thing was very sad. I just wished that the other boys could really take in how much damage the powers could do like Caleb had. Especially Reid since he certainly wasn't going to stop using any time soon. I hoped that they would get a grip on things before they ascended. I had to admit that I was pretty nervous for the day when each boy would turn (the dreaded) eighteen.

"Roxi!" Caleb nearly shouted at me while looking alarmed.

"What?" I asked confused. "What the hell are you yelling at me for?"

"I called your name ten times and you didn't answer. You were staring off into space. What's going on?" he asked furrowing his brows.

I noticed he had finished his omelet already and, looking down at my plate, I saw that mine was almost finished. There I was mindlessly eating again. I guess I just had too much on my mind lately.

"Sorry, I just wasn't paying attention. Thinking about what to expect at school today," I lied, finishing my breakfast.

Caleb nodded. "I think we all have lunch together, from what I gather at least. And I'm in your English and Chemistry class. I think we have the same P.E. class hour, too."

I smiled. "Good. I'm glad we have some stuff together. All I need is to be stuck in a class by myself with the likes of Aaron and his evil henchmen or his lady of the night, Kira Snider," I told him shaking my head and rolling my eyes.

He chuckled. "Yeah, let's hope that doesn't happen. You ready to go?"

"Yep, just let me brush my teeth and we'll go." I hopped up from the table. Jane came in at the same time to clear our plates. I flashed her a smile before taking off upstairs.

After I had brushed my teeth until they were sparkling white, I grabbed my bag. I also snatched my uniform jacket to throw on as I closed my door, hit the light, and practically bounded down the stairs. I had no clue as to why the hell I was so excited all of a sudden. It was school. It was never that fun before and I doubted if anything had changed.

Caleb was waiting at the bottom of the stairs much like two nights ago. This time around I was ready and down by the door in time. I grinned he and I walked out into the morning air.

"Want to take my car?" I asked. I had thrown the important contents of my purse into my bag for school like keys, my driver's license, and so on.

Caleb shook his head. "Nah, you can drive tomorrow. We'll switch off," he replied unlocking the doors of his car with a push of his remote starter.

Spenser was just how I remembered: gloomy and foreboding with rich kids frolicking about everywhere. Okay, so they didn't frolic per say, but the place was crawling with them. They were stuck up snobs just because they had money. I was sure that none of us acted that way or at least I hoped we didn't. I was always civil will everyone regardless of their status, unless I didn't like them of course. Then I was a bitch and usually only then.

We got out of the car after Caleb had _finally_ parked generally close to the doors. Not to say that he was taking too long finding a space, but I was antsy to get out of the car. I just stood for a moment looking around as I grabbed my bag from the floor of the passenger side. Again, I wondered why I wanted so badly to get into the school.

And then I saw him, leaning against the front wall of Spenser next to the doors chatting with Tyler.

He didn't have his shirt tucked in like Tyler or Caleb and he wore his fingerless gloves (I couldn't believe that he still had those. It had been over a year or so since I bought them for his birthday) that peeked out of his uniform jacket. He was gorgeous as always. I smiled to myself and my heartbeat quicken with anticipation and excitement.

Maybe this was truly the reason I had been so eager to get to school this morning.

I shut the door and heard the automatic locks kick in. As if on cue, Reid turned his head lazily and looked over at us, more like _me_, and grinned. My heart nearly jumped out of my chest. Caleb and I headed over to them and as I got closer I could see the mischievous glint in Reid's eyes before he even opened his mouth.

"Well, good morning, school-girl fantasy. I do believe I had a dream about you," he said, his grin turning into a playful smirk.

Out of the corner of my eye I could see Caleb roll his eyes and my ears detected something being mumbled under his breath, but I couldn't make out what it was. I assumed it wasn't anything nice.

Tyler raised an eyebrow, but smiled at me. "Hey, Rox."

I sighed, shaking my head at Reid's remark. "Morning," I said before looking at Reid. "Well, then I'm sure it was a _good_ morning for you, Reid," I said with a raised eyebrow and a smirk of my own. I was fighting the fit of laugher that had settled in my throat waiting to be released.

Reid's smirk widened and he looked highly amused at my comment. Meanwhile I was wondering where I had gotten the balls to say something like that without blushing. It had seemed to be all I was doing lately. Blushing. I thought maybe luck was on my side today.

Caleb cleared his throat rather loudly and I remembered just how much comments like that bothered the hell out of him. I gave him a slightly apologetic look.

Reid looked like he was going to respond, but Caleb cut him off before he could start.

"Alright, let's get inside before we're all late for class," Caleb said walking between Reid and me, like he was creating some sort of space or force field between his wake. He put his hand on the door handle, a disapproving look on his face even as he pulled it open. He looked back at us. "_C'mon_. Roxi, you can't be late on your first day back."

I exchanged glances with Reid and Tyler before walking through the doorway, both in tow. Reid threw his arm around my shoulders as we made our way down the wide halls to our English class. It appeared that we all had English together.

He pulled me to him and whispered in my ear. "I think your dirty little remark pissed off Caleb. I, however, would rather you talked dirty to me more often," he said, before kissing the shell of my ear. A chill ran through me and it wasn't entirely unpleasant. My heartbeat sped up again, too.

Why was he suddenly acting like this? Sure, we had flirted before, but never had it ever really resulted in anything physical, just verbal.

I snorted and pushed him off of me, sure that my face looked a bit flushed. I looked up at him to see his smirk. "I bet you would," I replied, giving him a sly smile. If he wanted to flirt, then I'd show him flirting. I sped up my pace, grabbed his hand, and began walking backwards, tugging him after me. "But, right now we have English," I added, grinning. "So come on."

We walked into the classroom and I looked up to see Pogue, Sarah, and Kate already seated. I figured we'd get assigned seats eventually, but maybe they were giving us a break. I tried to drop Reid's hand, but he still held on, that smile clear as day on his face. Caleb looked back at us briefly, an annoyed look crossing his face. Reid's smile widened.

He was obviously trying to aggravate Caleb and he was succeeding as far as I could see.

I tore my hand out of his, scowling. "Stop it. You're just pissing him off more than usual. Besides he's probably still mad at you about what happened at Nicky's," I told him in a hushed voice.

"Naw, I just really wanted to hold your hand," he replied, shrugging his shoulders. I hit him jokingly. "You don't want to hold my hand? Aw, Rox, that hurts me deeply," he added, a fake offended expression on his face.

"Oh, stop it," I said walking up the stairs to where Caleb had taken a seat next to Sarah. I chose the row of seats below them, Reid and Tyler following. We sat three seats in, Tyler on the end of the aisle, Reid next to me. Placing my bag on the floor by my feet, I turned around to greet Pogue, Kate, and Sarah.

"Morning, guys," I said smiling.

"Morning," they chimed back.

I heard shifting on the left side of me with the sound of someone putting their bag down. "Hey," a familiar voice added. They chorused a greeting back.

I turned around to see the newcomer, coming face to face with Chase. He smiled at me, yet it was a bit less creepy from that night at Nicky's. "Hi."

I wondered why he had sat next to me since I was the one he knew probably the least out of the rest of the group, but it didn't bother me that much. He seemed pretty friendly, so why not be nice?

"So what do you think of Spenser so far?" I asked him, hearing Reid shifting in his seat before he leaned on his arm on my desk, listening.

"Haven't really been here long enough to give it a review, but it's not bad," Chase replied. "How does it feel to be back?"

I shrugged. "Eh, it's okay. Not that I'm not glad to be back here, it's just, well it's school. So I can't be too excited."

Chase chuckled. "Yeah, I hear that."

The bell rang at that moment and I turned to look at the front of the room. Instead of my desk being empty, I found Reid lazily laying the upper half of his body across both his desk and mine. His head was resting on left arm which was draped across half of my desk area. I tugged on his earlobe to get his attention.

Reid lifted his head and raised his eyebrow.

I shrugged. "What? You were in my personal space."

He seemed to perk up at that. "Trust me, if I was _really _invading your personal space, you wouldn't be complaining so much," he said lowly. "In fact, I believe your mouth would be too busy to say much of anything." He was smirking again, that dangerous glint in his eyes for the second time today, and he was leaning toward me.

I narrowed my eyes and was about to kick him from under the table for teasing me like that, especially out in public (although I wasn't sure he knew that I had really want him to kiss me) when a crumpled piece of paper bounced off Reid's head. His eyebrows furrowed and we both looked back to see Caleb, his expression less than amused, his eyes narrowed much like mine had been a few seconds ago.

I guess he had been watching us. I had to say that I was kind of thankful for the distraction, no matter how entertaining it was. I wasn't sure what would have happened if Caleb hadn't interrupted.

Snorting, I glanced at Reid, who looked rather sour about things himself; most likely because Caleb was being a killjoy and putting a damper on his fun.

My attention was directed to the front of the room once again when the professor walked in and announced he was going to be teaching us for the year. Then he looked up at Caleb and said that Provost Higgins wanted to see him after to class. What the hell could that have been about? Maybe he just wanted to thank Caleb for his family's generous donation to Spenser.

I'd have to ask Caleb later. I peeked up at him with a questioning look to which he just shrugged.

Our English professor continued on with introducing the material for the class and things like that. Nothing too eventful (first day of class almost never was) and before I knew it, class was over.

I picked my bag up from the floor as we all stood up to leave. Reid and I had lovely math class together and it wasn't my favorite, especially so early in the morning. We were all rather silent despite the fact that we hadn't spoken since Professor Channing had begun his lecture. We filed out of the room and Caleb departed from us and headed to the Provost's office.

Reid and I said goodbye to the rest of the group seeing as how Pogue had history class with Caleb, and Kate, Sarah, Tyler, and Chase all had math in a different class. As Reid and I walked silently down the hall, a petite blonde girl wave as she walked by with her group of friends. "Hey, Reid," she drawled in what I supposed she thought was some kind of sexy voice and threw him a wink.

I wanted to throw her ass out the fucking window, but I refrained from tossing her to her brutal death. I also held back the not so sweet comment I was about to make. He wasn't mine. Reid didn't belong to me and it wasn't like we were together or anything.

He smiled at her. "Jessica. Ladies." God, I had almost forgotten how _much_ of a flirt he really was with every girl that crossed his path until I witnessed it firsthand.

She giggled with her girls and they continued past us.

"You're the biggest flirt I know," I mumbled loudly enough for him to hear.

"Yes, but you love me anyway."

If only he knew how true his words really were. I shook my head lightly as he motioned for me to walk into the classroom first.

It was going to be a long day.


	7. Blueberry Kisses

**Disclaimer_: I do not own the concept or characters from the movie, "The Covenant." Any other characters not related to the movie, are mine and are NOT to be used in any other fan fictions._**

**Author Note: **_Hey all, here's another chapter__!__ Enjoy! **Please don't forget to review!** __Thank you for reading and **thanks so much to those who've been reviewing**! -IB_

* * *

It was Friday night around ten o'clock and I was lounging in my Lazy Boy flipping through almost all 999 channels on my flat screen to find something good to watch. Caleb was out with Sarah on a date which was cute, but left me kind of bored. Pogue and Kate had most likely gone out too, and Reid and Tyler were both busy.

Reid had dinner with his family and Tyler had plans with, most likely, his family as well. Tyler's parents liked to see him for dinner every so often and Reid's parents just wanted to check up on him and make sure that he was keeping himself in line (or at least someone else was). Jane had left for the day, so I couldn't even go downstairs to chat with her. I didn't care if she was "just a maid." She was a person for me to talk to. Auntie Ev had gone to bed early, or at least she was put to bed early.

So I was stuck at home, all by my lonesome hoping for something good to be on TV. I hadn't felt like reading anything. In English we had been reading enough for even me to need a break.

The first week of school had passed with very minor events. I had established a friendship with Sarah and Kate and while the boys had swim practice, we hung out in their dorm room until it was over. I had actually gotten to like them. Sure, they were kind of girly at times and I could be a bit of a tomboy, but I really felt comfortable with them.

I'd even gotten to know Chase better. He was nice. Something was a bit off about him, something that I hadn't warmed up to yet, but it was probably just a weird personality trait that I was picking up on. I usually thought that about someone when I didn't know too much about them anyway. Other than that, I really liked him. He was cool and the boys seemed to get along well with him. Plus, we had been chatting in English since he continued to sit next to me.

I found out later on Monday that Reid had switched his history class to be in our P.E. hour. He claimed that he couldn't miss seeing me in a bathing suit when we were forced to go into the school's pool. I ended up punching him in the arm which resulted in him telling me that I was "too cute when I blushed." And that only had my face heating up more.

Caleb and Reid had thankfully gotten back to speaking civilly with one another. Reid and I had kept the flirting down to a minimum and saved it for classes without Caleb present. I knew it still bothered him. I also knew that he was just trying to look out for me. It was sweet and caring of him and I appreciated it, but Caleb could be a bit overbearing. I needed some space. After all, I was a big girl and I could make decisions for myself. I figured I'd talk to him about it when he got back home from his date.

I was seventeen and Caleb was only six months older than I was, so it wasn't like he was more mature or knew anymore than I did. He just thought he knew Reid or at least the type of guy Reid was. I would have liked to say I knew he was wrong, but I honestly didn't know.

I wasn't exactly sure about Reid, myself. I mean, I wasn't sure if he had changed or anything since I had been gone. All I knew was that he was still smartass flirt like I remembered him being. I also knew that I had changed quite a bit, just not on the outside. I was more comfortable in my body and confident and felt that I had grown out of being an awkward teenager. Everybody goes through that terrible awkward stage and I felt that I had finally grown out of mine over the summer of last year.

I was just changing the channel to somewhere in the six-hundreds (I still hadn't found anything worth watching) when my cell rang. During my utter boredom earlier in the evening, I had decided on buying some more ringtones to set as everyone's designated ring. Yeah, I was _really_ bored tonight. I immediately knew it was Reid since I had set his ringtone as Disturbed's 'Down with the Sickness'. It had practically been his favorite song before I left, so I deemed it an appropriate choice. I had no idea what his favorite song was _now_.

I reached over to the end table next to the comfy chair and flipped my phone open, placing it against my ear. "Hello?"

"Hey. What are you doing right now?" Reid asked.

I furrowed my eyebrows. "Nothing. Browsing through crappy TV, bored out of my damn mind. Why? What are you up to? How was dinner with your parents?" I had finally settled on _Scream_ even though I had already seen it a bunch of times. It was as good as it was going to get. I muted it so I could hear his response. I was surprised that nothing was on tonight. I guess even the cable company thought I should have a life and be out on a Friday night. Yeah, well, fuck them.

"Eh, same as always. I was actually going to ask you if you wanted to hang out. Mom sent some blueberry pie home with me. I know how much you love it, so I made sure to get two huge pieces."

I sat up in my chair, a grin on my face. "You're kidding? You have pie with you?" I asked.

He chuckled. My excitement must have been clear in my voice. "Yeah, I thought we'd celebrate you surviving your first week back. That is, unless you're busy with all that channel surfing," he teased.

"No way! That sounds great. Where are you now?" I asked getting out of my chair to throw on my bra under my white tank top. I wore sweats that were more like pajama pants than actual sweatpants, but they were super comfy and I didn't feel like changing out of them.

"In the driveway," he answered simply.

I ran over to my window and peeked out, clearly seeing a classic muscle car in the driveway. "Whose car is that?" I asked.

"Mine. I do have a car you know," Reid said and I could practically hear him roll his eyes.

"That was definitely something I was unaware of. What is it?" I asked. I knew cars, but it was too dark to really make out the body of the car from the window. It looked to be maybe about a 70s something.

"1970 Chevelle SS," he replied. "You can come outside and check it out if you want. C'mon I know you're just itching to." He laughed, knowing me all too well.

"Yes! I'll be down in a second." I hung up and tossed my cell on my bed. I practically flew down the stairs to throw the front door open, running straight into the firm, sweatshirt clad chest of Reid.

He laughed that dazzling laugh of his and caught me. "Easy there, babe. I'd like to think that you're excited to see me and not just my car or the pie," he said grinning. I looked up at him taking in his appearance. He wore his black beanie and dark blue jeans and I could feel his fingerless gloves on my bare arms warming them even as a cool breeze flew in from the open door.

"I am," I protested with a smile before leaping into his arms for a hug. I kissed his cheek and he hugged me tight. Then I hopped down and grabbed his hand practically dragging his pokey ass off of the porch stoop and out to the car still running in the driveway. I heard him pulling the front door closed.

"Roxi, you don't even have any shoes on," Reid said trying to tug me back into the house. "Or a jacket. It's like 50 degrees out here!"

I shrugged. "I'm fine. I want to see the car. Besides, it's really not that bad out," I said although a shiver rippled through me. I continued on quickly. "You never mentioned that you got a car. I just assumed you stole Tyler's Hummer a lot."

"Yeah, it was my Christmas present last year," he said from behind me as we reached the car. "Tyler wants to take his truck all the time because he likes to show it off."

He tugged his hand from mine which I didn't really think much of. I was too preoccupied with checking out the car, or what I could see of it in the dark. The Chevelle was black with white racing stripes. It was gorgeous; practically a classic fantasy to me. Something about classic cars was sexy to me and knowing that Reid drove one made my heart pound and my face flush. I was glad it was dark out.

"Here." I turned my head to see Reid now in just a black cotton tee holding his navy blue hoodie out to me. "At least if you're going to be out here, you don't have to freeze to death."

"Reid, now you're going to be cold," I told him, shaking my head.

"Rox, you're putting this on, or I'm dragging your ass back in the house," he replied looking serious.

I sighed taking it from him and slipping it over my head, pushing my arms through. It was still warm from his body heat and smelled comfortingly like Reid. "There, are you happy now?" I said teasingly.

He smiled. "Yes. Now come on, you want to see what's under the hood?" He smirked as he moved unclip the hood. Reid pushed the hood up and over his head, just holding it with one hand; the other motioning for me to come and look.

I grinned and practically leapt over to take a look. The heat coming off the engine warmed me and I was sure was warming Reid. At least he wouldn't be cold because I was wearing his hoodie. I could see only so much because of the light coming from the windows of the mansion behind us.

"It's a 7.4L v8. This baby pulls about 450 horsepower," he said admiring his car and pointing to the big engine. Then he looked over at me. "It'd blow that Mustang of yours away." He grinned playfully.

I glared. "Oh, I don't know about that. We'll have to test that _hypothesis_ of yours sometime," I replied laughing lightly, before smiling.

He smiled back shaking his head and just staring at me for a moment, before putting his other hand on my shoulder. "Watch out." He guided me a step back before putting both hands on the hood, lowering the hood gently. Then he made his way over to turn off the car, bringing out a bag with him.

"Caleb on his date with Sarah, still?" he asked curiously as we headed back into the house.

"Yep. It's just me by myself. All alone and bored." I walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge grabbing a bottle of water for myself.

"You know, there _are_ things to do when you're bored and alone," he said suggestively with a smirk.

"No, gross," I said shaking my head at him. "What do you want to drink?"

"A water's cool."

I grabbed another bottle, two plates, and forks and we went upstairs to my room. After Reid had stepped in, I closed the door behind him. I also walked over and clicked off the mute button. The main character, Sydney, was getting chased in her house by the killer. Predictable.

"Nice room," he said as he sat down on my bed, looking around the room. He pulled a medium sized glass container out of the bag he had and opened it. The smell of pie filled the room.

I plopped down on the bed next to him. "Thanks. Caleb and Auntie Ev put it together."

Reid snorted as he set a large piece of blueberry pie on each of our plates. "Caleb's an interior designer now?" he asked, a smirk coming to his face.

I shook my head. "Oh, stop it. I'm sure they just ordered some stuff that matched together. I'm hoping to add a few personal touches soon."

He nodded. "Yeah, it just doesn't scream 'you' yet. I'm sure you could find some stuff at the shops in town," he suggested.

I shrugged. "Probably. I brought some things from home, too. I just haven't had a chance to put them up yet."

I stuck my fork in the end of the pie pulling off a chunk onto my fork. I took a bite and smiled. "Mmm." I chewed and swallowed before saying, "Thanks for bringing this over. I really needed it."

Reid smiled having eaten some of his piece, too. "I figured. I know how you get when you're bored. Did you organize something, maybe alphabetize your books?" he asked as he raised a teasing eyebrow.

I blushed. I had a habit of doing things like that when I had nothing else to do. I couldn't believe he remembered. "No," I protested, but his gaze was unwavering and I broke. "Okay, I set ringtones for everyone in my contacts list."

Reid grinned, chuckling. "Wow." He pulled his phone out of his pocket hitting his speed dial. My phone rang behind us between my pillows where I guessed it had landed when I haphazardly tossed it earlier. He looked at me and nodded in approval. "Disturbed? Nice job."

I leaned over curiously after taking another bite of the delicious pie. "What speed dial am I?" I asked him, looking at his phone.

He didn't answer me for a moment. I turned my head to see his face. I guess I didn't realize just how close I had moved to see his phone because our faces inches apart. "Two," he answered. "Voicemail's one, of course, and Baby Boy's three."

I beamed, pleased. "Really?" I had finished my pie by now and leaned over him to put my empty plate on my night stand.

He froze for a second as I moved. "Yeah, really. Rox, you have some crumbs on your lip. Right here," he said pointing to the corner of his mouth and smiling.

I felt my face get warm from embarrassment and without thinking my tongue flicked out and I licked the corner of my mouth to get the crumbs off.

"Gone?" I asked.

Reid's eyes had darted to my lips at that motion and his face slowly became serious.

"Yeah," he said quietly, his eyes going from my lips back to my eyes.

We were still very close since I had only moved back halfway when he told me about the pie crumbs. My heart pounded in my chest and my breathing speed picked up. For the first time I realized how alone we really were. There was no one here to interrupt us or throw a crumpled paper ball at Reid's head. It was just us alone; _really_ alone for the first time since I had been back in Ipswich.

He set his plate on mine without every breaking eye contact. Very slowly, as if he was gauging my reaction, he raised his hand to my cheek, brushing it gently with the back of his hand. I leaned into his touch.

Then, even slower, he lowered his face toward mine. My heart skipped a beat almost quite literally. There was no sound that reached my ears and nothing else existed in the room, but Reid. He was all my attention was focused on and every fiber of my being longed for him. I wanted him to know that it was okay to kiss me, but a small part in my brain was worried. That small part was afraid of what would happen if we stepped over the line of friendship again and whether or not he really had real feelings for me.

The rest of my brain and body told that small part to shut the hell up as I met him halfway and pressed my lips to his. I closed my eyes as a light electric jolt went through me. His lips were as soft and gentle as that day, a year and a half ago. They moved tenderly, but firmly against mine. His hand came to rest on my lower back and his other moved from my cheek to tangle in my hair.

I smiled against his lips as one of my hands was firm on his chest; the other pulled his black beanie off to toss it away. I ran my fingers through his blond hair slowly.

Reid groaned quietly. My breathing came faster at his reaction, as did his and he nibbled on my bottom lip. I opened my mouth and the first thought that I had was that he tasted deliciously like blueberries, but he had his own flavor; a combination that had my head spinning as our tongues touched. Our kisses were becoming more heated.

He pulled me to him as he guided me to lie back on the bed. I scooted back without breaking our kiss and he followed after me. My head and back came to rest against my pillows and Reid hovered lightly above me, his lower half between my legs. His hand moved from my lower back to my left hip, tracing circles there before dragging the back of it down my thigh and back up again.

A light shiver ran through me and we broke apart for air. Well, I did at least. Reid's attention was just drawn away from my lips over to my cheek and down my neck. Both of my hands were in his hair now, just running through it and playing with the ends at the back of his neck. When he reached my collarbone he stayed there momentarily lightly nipping and kissing my skin.

I moaned contently before bringing his face back to mine. We paused as our eyes met almost as if we were assessing the situation. Reid's face was flushed, his lips red, his hair messy with my hands still tangled in his blond locks, and his eyes were bright blue, his pupils dilated. I was sure that my face was just as flushed if not more. Our labored breathing was the only thing that my ears detected at the moment, despite the TV being on a low volume. Nothing mattered at that moment but the blond, blue-eyed boy on top of me.

Reid leaned his face forward to rest his forehead against mine. His warm, sweet breath was like a feather brushing across my lips. Our staring hadn't faltered for a moment. Neither of us had spoken yet. I wasn't entirely sure what to say. I wanted to tell him how I felt. I thought now would have been a good time as ever. I sighed lightly.

"I like you." It was a hushed confession, but it was said nonetheless. Just not by me.

I was shocked. I hadn't spoken a word. Reid had beaten me to it. I didn't say anything for a little while. I was just thinking about his words and how I could have possibly been dreaming about the entire thing. Everything was going well enough for it to all have been a dream; a wonderful dream with a torturous end.

"Roxi?" he asked softly. I focused my attention back on his face. His expression was filled with concern, but was laced with fear, like he was horrified that he had blurted it out or maybe that he would get rejected. I knew how he felt.

"You like me?" I asked him back. I just had to be sure I hadn't imagined it. I knew it was hard for him to share his emotions. Everything was always fun with him and he only was able to open up sometimes and with very few people. I was often one of them. Reid wasn't a very emotional guy.

His stare wavered for a second before his blue eyes returned to mine.

"Yes. I-I really like you." It wasn't like Reid to stammer either.

I suddenly felt lightheaded. It was all very real and I still was having a hard time grasping his words. His face that was once hopeful again was slowly falling. I had to answer him soon, but I still felt shell-shocked. I mean, these were the last words that I had thought I would be hearing out of his mouth.

I took a breath to clear my head before I managed to smile even if I still probably appeared stunned. I pressed a chaste kiss to his cheek.

"I feel the same way. I mean, that I like you, too. Not that I like me or anything like that because—" But I was cut off when his lips returned to mine. That was a God send since I was clearly rambling.

When we pulled apart I opened my eyes to see a very genuine smile on Reid's face, his eyes were still closed for a brief moment almost savoring it. His eyes opened and he placed a kiss on my forehead before rolling us onto our sides. His hand brushed across my cheek, down my neck and shoulder to rest on my bicep. He dragged his fingers lightly over my skin there.

"What are we watching?" he asked peeking over me to look at the TV screen. I had nearly forgotten about that.

"Scream," I replied. "Do you want to watch it with me?"

He nodded and I rolled over on my side with my back facing him. He wrapped his arm around me and pulled me flush against him. His face rested in the crook of my neck and somehow I doubt that he was really watching the movie. On the screen Sydney was talking to her dopey friends at school. I still didn't know why people in horror movies were so dumb and cliché. It didn't help me to sympathize with them at all.

I felt Reid's lips on my neck leaving a light trail of kisses. "I feel like I did this wrong," he muttered against my skin.

"Did what wrong?" I tried to turn around, but Reid held me in place with his arm.

"_This_. I should have asked you on a date or something and _then_ told you how I felt about you. I just thought it would be weird though. Would you like that?" he asked.

"Would I like things to be weird?" I asked confused. I wasn't aware thoughts like that ran through Reid's head. Ever.

I felt him shake his head behind me as he chuckled, his hair brushing against my exposed neck. "No. I want to take you out somewhere."

"Oh," I said quietly. I smiled to myself. Reid and I on a date. It seemed like something just out of reach. "I'd like that."

"Tomorrow night then?" he asked.

I nodded happily. "Stay with me tonight?"

"Of course, babe."

The grin was still prominent on my face. Everything that happened tonight seemed so unreal, but things were really happening. Or so I hoped. I thought if I fell asleep, I would wake up to find that none of it had occurred. Reid's grip tightened on me, his face nestling back in the crook of my neck. I sighed contently. I didn't care if this was all a dream; things were nice just like this.

I briefly wondered where Caleb was, but he might have already gotten home and went to his room. It would have surprised me since Reid's Chevelle was sitting out in the driveway obviously signaling that somebody else was here. Maybe he had finally relaxed and decided to let me make decisions for myself and give me some space. I'd have to thank him in the morning because I wouldn't have wanted anything to ruin this perfect moment.

I snuggled back against Reid and closed my eyes praying that when I woke up, he'd still be there.


	8. Acceptance

**Disclaimer_: I do not own the concept or characters from the movie, "The Covenant." Any other characters not related to the movie, are mine and are NOT to be used in any other fan fictions._**

**Author Note: **_Hey guys, here's another chapter. It's kind of a filler in a way, but it's important in it's own way, so I hope you like it! I'll be updating soon again!__ **Please don't forget to review!** __Thank you for reading and **thanks so much to those who've been reviewing**! -IB_

* * *

I awoke in the morning to soft kisses on my forehead. I opened my eyes and found myself under the covers and snuggled against something warm. Looking up on my pillow, I saw Reid smiling down at me already awake. I was wrapped tightly in his arms. My head was on his chest over his heart and my hand rested on the middle of his chest next to my face.

I smiled, so relieved that everything was real last night and I hadn't fabricated the whole thing in my mind. I didn't hear anything else in the room besides Reid's light breathing so he must have turned the TV off at some point and moved us under the covers.

"Morning, Beautiful," he said leaning down to kiss me.

I felt myself blush at his comment as I gave him a small kiss. It was a great morning so far, although I was sure that Caleb would have been barging down the door by now, but maybe not. I was sure that he knew the Chevelle in the driveway was Reid's, so I wondered what sort of scenarios were going through his head. I was glad that he was giving me some space though, it was nice. Maybe Caleb hadn't even come home. Maybe he had stayed out with Sarah all night. It didn't seem very Caleb-like though.

"What are you thinking about?" Reid asked as brushed some hair out of my face.

I shook my head. "Just about us. About you here and Caleb probably downstairs," I said quietly as if Caleb could here us speaking even though my door was closed. "Maybe we should keep this just between us for a little while."

Reid frowned, but nodded. "Sure, I guess if that's what you want."

I reached up and kissed him again. "You know that I'm not ashamed of us or anything, I just think it would be easier on Caleb's mental health if he didn't find out that we're together after last night. He might think _things_ about us, you know?"

"Anything for you, Roxi," he said looking amused almost like he was picturing Caleb losing his mind or he was picturing us doing things.

I sighed. "Thank you. Do you want to go down and get some breakfast?" I asked.

He grinned. "What's the other option?"

I grinned back playfully. "Me leaving you to go get breakfast myself."

Reid gripped me tighter. "I don't like the idea of you leaving me at all. Alright, let's go," he said before mumbling, "I was hoping for a little better of an option."

I rolled my eyes as we got out of bed. "Yeah, well, breakfast comes first." I looked over at Reid just in time to see him smirk and open his mouth to say something perverse back. "Don't even!" I said putting up my hand and shaking my head as I picked the pie plates up from my nightstand where we had left them last night.

He put his hands up in surrender as he laughed. "Okay, okay. Chill out, babe." He grabbed my hand, kissed my cheek, and opened the door for me to go out first. "Just to make you happy, I'll try to be on my best behavior downstairs if Caleb is still here."

I smiled, pulling him in for a quick kiss. "Thank you." I tugged on his hand. "Now, c'mon. Jane makes a fabulous omelet."

He raised an eyebrow as he followed me down the stairs.

"Who's Jane?" he asked curiously.

"The housekeeper. She's pretty cool. Maybe in her mid 20s, but don't get any ideas, Reid Joseph Garwin," I said warningly.

He chuckled. "No worries, Rox, don't you know I only go for girls with two-toned hair," he teased, tugging on a silvery blue streak in my hair.

"Stop!" I said shaking my head a blush on my cheeks.

"Hey, I never said I didn't like it. I think it's kind of sexy," he said whispering in my ear so any nearby ears didn't hear him before kissing it.

"Psh, you don't know what sexy is yet," I whispered back, winking.

He grinned and made to grab me, but I slipped just out of his grasp and into the kitchen.

"Morning, Jane," I said as the blonde woman smiled back. "I'll take my usual ham and cheese omelet. Reid?"

"I'll take the same, just throw in some green peppers and tomatoes for me," Reid said nodding a thanks to Jane.

We continued on into the dining room to see Caleb already at the table eating alongside Auntie Ev. We usually slept in on Saturdays around here, or at least I did. I supposed that since Jane was still here cooking, Saturday breakfast started a bit later than the rest of the week. I noticed that the grandfather clock in the corner read 9:30, so I figured Reid and I hadn't slept too late.

"Morning!" I said cheerfully taking my seat across from Caleb. Reid took a seat next to me, his hand resting on my leg under the table. All I knew was that it better stay put or I was going to beat Reid with his omelet. He said he was going to behave, so I was just waiting for him to keep his word.

"Good morning, Roxanne," my aunt chimed from across the table.

She seemed fairly sober right now, but who knew when she would start drinking again. I think she did it anytime she thought of Uncle James. She thought that same thing would happen to Caleb and so I think that scared here. I knew how she felt since the thought worried the hell out of me as well.

I smiled at my aunt before turning my attention to Caleb whose scrutinizing gaze was set on Reid. I raised an eyebrow and cleared my throat. His eyes moved from the blonde boy next to me to my brown eyes.

"Morning Roxi; Reid," he said before returning his attention back to his breakfast.

"I didn't hear you come in, Reid," Auntie Ev commented, lifting her coffee cup to her lips and taking a drink.

"Reid stayed over last night," I said looking at him out of the corner of my eye.

He squeezed my leg reassuringly before he added, "Yep, we had another movie night. It's good to see you though, Mrs. Danvers. It's been a long time."

I made a mental note to ask him later why he hadn't been over to the house, but then I thought that maybe tensions had been high between Reid and Caleb. I still wanted to ask him about it though.

Just then, Jane came into the room with two plates of homemade omelets, setting them down in front of Reid and me.

"Looks great, thanks, Jane," Reid said flashing her a smile. She blushed and nodded as she left, but what girl wouldn't? Reid was such a charmer even when he wasn't trying to be. I knew that first hand of course.

His thumb traced circles on my leg as if to remind me that I was still on his mind. Well, he was on mine, too. Hell, when _wasn't_ Reid on my mind?

"Oh, Reid, you know you can always call me Evelyn. I remember when you were all so young, running around here all hopped up on sugar, camping out in the yard," she said, her eyes shining. It looked like she was ready to cry. It had to be because the boys were grown up and so close to ascension that it was terrifying.

She cleared her throat quickly. "How are you parents?" Auntie Ev asked him. I knew she was just trying to make conversation. I think the thought of Reid's father upset her because he hadn't made the choices that Uncle James had made and it reminded her of him.

"Oh, you know, they're good. They leave on Wednesday for Spain," he said casually, although he shot me a side glance. An empty Garwin house meant naughty thoughts were running through Reid's head about us. I could tell by the way his hand started to slide up my leg. Apparently they were taking over his mind.

I dropped my fork shocked and my hand darted under the table to stop him. Even though I was still wearing my sweatpants, it made me nervous to have his hands on me like that. I held his hand, hoping that would keep him from doing anything crazy at the table in front of Caleb and his mother. I tried to be as sneaky about it as possible, but my fork had made a bit of a clank against the ceramic plate drawing the attention of Caleb's watchful gaze.

I grinned at Caleb showing that everything was fine even as I looked at Reid out of the corner of my eye. There was a hint of a smirk on his lips. I kicked his socked foot under the table.

I kept my attention on Caleb after that. "So how was your date?" I asked him leaning forward eagerly. I had finished my omelet during all the small talk.

His expression was distant for a moment and he smiled to himself. "It was great," he said bringing his focus back to me.

"You look happy," I said. "You know, I really like Sarah. I think she's good for you."

And I did. Sarah was a pretty cool person and if she made Caleb happy then that was all that really mattered. Plus they were very cute together. I just wished that Caleb would feel the same way about me as I did about him. I wished that _he_ wanted _me_ to be happy even if that meant it was with Reid. Reid made me happy, so why couldn't he see that and be happy for me like I was for him.

"Thanks," Caleb replied giving me a smile.

Jane came back into the room, a smile on her face as she picked up the empty plates in front of us and poured some more coffee into Auntie Ev's cup. My aunt had a magazine next to her on the table. Probably some kind of furniture magazine.

"Well, it was good to see you again Evelyn, but I have to get back to the dorms," Reid said standing up bringing me up with him, his hand still in mine. "Thanks for breakfast."

Caleb's eyebrows flew up as he saw our joined hands. I was just about to pull away when Reid gave my hand a reassuring squeeze. I thought we had agreed to not telling Caleb yet, but I guess we had held hands before so it shouldn't have made Caleb anymore suspicious than usual.

"I'll walk you out," I said pushing my chair back in against the table.

My aunt smiled. "Good-bye, Reid."

Reid and Caleb exchanged some sort of hand shake/fist bump thing that I had seen the four boys do a million times over. At least they were still on good terms.

Reid and I walked out the side door and back up to my room so that Reid could grab his shoes and glass container of his mother's.

"Just keep it for now. I'm sure they'll want to see you anyway, so we bring it back to them the next time we have dinner," he told me when I tried to give him back the container. "Take it as like a for sure thing that you're going to come with me next time."

"Of course, I would go with you. You don't have to bribe me by making me hold onto your mother's high class kitchenware," I replied looking at him incredulously as we headed back down the stairs.

"Just humor me."

"Reid, you just don't want to keep it in your dorm," I said shaking my head at him as a laughed lightly.

He grinned sheepishly. "Well, that too, but I really do want you to go with me next time. All they ask me about is college and school and it's freaking boring. If you're there, they'll focus on your pretty little face and not so much on my academics."

I sighed. "Fine, I'll keep it."

We were by the front door now and Reid had finished putting on his shoes as he sat on the stairs. He stood up. "So I'll see you tonight?" he asked, pulling me close to him after we made sure the coast was clear. His arms were wrapped around my waist.

I smiled. "Yes, where are we going?" I asked wrapping my arms around his neck.

He grinned mischievously. "Ah, that's a secret, babe. I do have a place in mind though. Just dress casual."

I sighed in relief. I didn't want our first date to be at some super expensive fancy restaurant. There was too much pressure.

"Casual? Sounds good to me. Maybe after _wherever_ it is we're going, we can come back here and go for a swim. I've pretty much forgotten about the heated pool and hot tub in the back since I've been here, so I should probably break them in soon," I said my face leaning closer to his.

"Oh, yeah? That sounds amazing. You in a bikini. That's like a dream, Roxi," he mumbled, closing the distance between our lips.

Our kiss was soft, yet there was a longing behind it and I found myself sad when he pulled away. We had to keep things short though, just in case we were spotted.

"I'm gonna go," he said pecking my lips once before his arms slowly dropped from around my waist. My arms slid off of his shoulders to my sides.

I smiled up him. "I'll see you later then."

"Pick you up at six," he said opening the door. He paused on the stoop and turned around, a flirty glint in his blue eyes. "Did I mention that you look really hot in my hoodie?"

I looked down remembering that I wearing it. "Oops, I'll give it back to you," I said, moving to pull it over my head.

Reid shook his head. "Naw, keep it. I like it on you." He waved at me and walked off to his car.

I closed the door and headed upstairs to take a shower, beaming the whole way up.

* * *

I had thirty minutes to finish getting ready. I didn't bother straightening my hair since we were probably going to swim later on. I was a bit nervous since this was technically our very first date. It shouldn't have been so intimidating though. I mean, Reid and I had known each other forever, so it wasn't like I was going on a blind date or anything. As I put on some light eye makeup, I sifted through different places Reid could be taking me tonight. I honestly didn't care where we went as long as we were together I'm sure we could amuse ourselves somehow.

I examined myself in the mirror. Caleb and I shared about the same tan complexion since our fathers were both pretty tan. My hair was lightly curled; it was easier to scrunch it up than straighten it since it had a natural curl to it already. I decided on a lacy black tank top, tight light boot-cut jeans, and my black boots.

Reid's hooded sweatshirt was lying at the foot of my bed. I thought it would be a good idea to bring it with in case it got cooler out. It was usually pretty raining and cold out around this time of year in Ipswich. I kind of liked the idea of Reid wanting me to keep it. It reminded me of those teen movies where the jock gives his girlfriend his letterman jacket or asks her to wear his class ring. I might have been reading too much into it, but I was too excited to think anything less of the action.

A knock sounded on my door.

"Roxi? Can I talk to you for a second?" Caleb's voice came from the other side of the door.

"Sure," I said loudly.

He opened the door and took a look around the room before his eyes landed on me. "You look nice," he commented. "You going out?"

I nodded as I put two gold hoop earrings in and clipped on a gold chain with a cross. "Yeah, Reid and I are hanging out tonight. We might come back and swim for a bit, so don't be alarmed if you hear people outside," I told him, looking at him through the mirror as he came to sit on the edge of my bed.

He smiled slightly. "Just be careful, that's all I ask. I know you aren't a kid anymore and that I can't watch you every minute to make sure you're okay, but… I just want you to be safe."

My eyes widened in the mirror. "Whoa, we aren't going to talk about safe sex or anything like that are we?"

Caleb's eyes widened, too and he shook his head. "Oh, God, no. That shouldn't even be on your mind, Rox," he said before he seemed to catch himself. "I mean, I guess you can make those decisions for yourself, but—"

"Reid and I aren't having sex, if that's what you're freaking out about. I don't believe in friends with benefits," I said casually, turning around and pulling myself to sit on top of my dresser. "I'm not stupid, you know? I wish you'd give us a little credit. You act like Reid can't control his hormones for like five seconds and that's not true."

Caleb shook his head. "I'm sorry, Roxi, I don't mean to butt into your life, but I know how he can be about girls. I know him and like I said before, I just don't want you getting hurt."

I frowned. "I wish you'd come to be more accepting of the fact that I like him. Why can't you be happy for me like I'm happy for you with Sarah?" I asked quietly.

"I _do_ want you to be happy." He sighed rubbing a hand over his face, a sign that he was getting stressed. "Look, just forget I even said anything. I guess I've been pushing my protective boundaries, huh?" He gave me a weak smile. "Go and have a good time. If being with Reid makes you happy then I'll back off. I'm sorry about all of this."

I smiled and hopped off the dresser to sit next to my cousin who worried about me just as much as I worried about him. "I forgive you and I'm sure Reid does, too," I said patting him on the back. "I really do appreciate you looking out for me, but sometimes you can be a little much, Caleb."

He grimaced. "I know and I apologize for that. You're like my little sister, Roxi. I've made it my job to keep you away from guys like Reid since you were born. I never really thought that Reid would turn into one of those guys that I would be fighting so hard to keep you from, _but_ I can't really stop you from seeing him. I'm not your dad or anything, so I guess what I'm trying to say is that Reid's a good, loyal friend despite his smart ass comments, so I just hope he treats you the same way, loyally and respectfully," he said sighing.

I smiled. "Thank you for that," I told him. "It makes me happy that you're calming down about the whole thing. I hate to upset you and so it means a lot to me that you're being so cool about this now."

Caleb nodded.

The doorbell rang and my heart leapt joyfully. Reid was here and I was super excited to see him. I jumped up from the bed, grabbing Reid's hoodie.

"Do I look alright?" I asked spinning around quickly.

Caleb smiled. "You look great, Roxi. Keep him in line," he told me.

I grinned and leaned over kissing his cheek. "Thanks!" I ran out the door, then stopped an peeked my head back into the room. "Hey, call up Sarah and go out again tonight. You guys are cute together."

Caleb shook his head and chuckled. "Alright, go and answer the door already. Have fun on your date."

I paused for a moment my eyebrow raised high.

He winked. "I saw you guys after breakfast," he said shrugging. "It'll take some time to get used to, but whatever makes you happy."

"You're awesome!" I chimed before taking off down the stairs and throwing the door open much like I had last night.

Reid stood there leaning against the siding of the house on the stoop. He wore dark baggy jeans, a studded belt, his fingerless gloves, a white t-shirt and cloth jacket over it. He grinned at me when he saw me. The light gleamed off of his blonde hair and earring. I always thought that was sexy as hell.

"Ready to go, babe?" he asked holding his hand out to me.

I nodded happily placing my hand in his. "I'm ready to see where we're going."

He walked me out to his car and opened the passenger side door, but not before pulling me close and giving me a sweet kiss. "You look amazing," he whispered against my lips.

I blushed. "Thanks," I said softly.

Reid chuckled, his fingerless gloved hand brushing against my cheek. "There you go with blushing again."

Once I was in the car, he shut the door and walked around the car to the driver's side. I super excited for our date and the car ride there. I thought about asking him if I could drive at some point, but as he sat down in the driver's seat, he smiled at me and I forgot everything.

"Up for a game of pool?" he asked me as he started up the engine.

I closed my eyes and leaned back against the seat just listening to the engine purr. A very sexy Reid in a very sexy car right now? I smiled to myself at the thought. Well, that was certainly a fun idea.

"Are you enjoying the car, or what?" I heard him ask and I opened my eyes to see a smirking, amused Reid, his eyes glued to me.

I didn't answer his question. "We're going to Nicky's?" I asked.

He nodded. "Yeah, is that okay?" He looked unsure if maybe he had made the wrong choice.

"Yes, I'm up for kicking you ass at pool if that's what you meant to ask me earlier," I replied, flipping my hair over my shoulder playfully.

He snorted, shifted the car over into reverse, and began backing out of the driveway. "If you think you can. I'd really like to see you try that, babe."

"Oh, you'll see," I said resting back against the seat once more as he reached the end of the driveway, shifted into first and sped off towards the bar.


	9. First Dates

**Disclaimer_: I do not own the concept or characters from the movie, "The Covenant." Any other characters not related to the movie, are mine and are NOT to be used in any other fan fictions. I also don't own the Offspring or any of their music._**

**Author Note: **_Hey guys, here's chapter 9. Sorry that I updated a bit later than I said I was going to on my profile page.__ It's a long chapter though, so I hope you enjoy! _

_**Please don't forget to review!** __Thank you for reading and **thanks so much to my loyal reviewers**! -IB_

* * *

Nicky's was decently crowded of course since it was a Saturday night. I was glad to be out and about with Reid. The car ride was uneventful, just a lot of laughing and talking. After we had walked in, I took a look around. There was one pool table open.

Perfect.

"So, you ready to get your ass whipped?" I asked as Reid racked up the pool balls.

He raised his eyebrows. "You really think you can huh?" he asked as he walked around the table to stand in front of me. His arms were crossed over his chest.

I nodded confidently as I leaned close to his face. "But no using. I'll be watching you like a hawk," I whispered against his lips keeping eye contact.

He grinned and leaned in to kiss me, but I put my hand up and moved back quickly.

"Only if you beat me at this game. One game. If you win, I'll kiss you, but if I win… I want to drive your car," I told him poking him in the chest.

His face dropped, but turned smug. "Yeah, okay. I look forward to that kiss then, babe. And many more of course." Reid handed me a pool stick and let me break since I was girl and needed that extra help.

Yeah right.

Anytime that I had ever went out in Chicago, we went to places with pool tables and I would play constantly. It was familiar to me and made me feel closer to home. It made me think of Reid and how he had taught me how to play pool in the first place. He was really adamant about teaching me since I wasn't really sure of the concept of the game in the beginning.

We played a few shots and had pocketed the same number of balls. I was solids, he was stripes.

"Can you pick something else?" he asked after making a shot.

I looked at him questioningly. "For what?"

"I mean, do you even know how to drive stick shift?" He walked around the table aiming to make another shot.

"Yeah, my car is stick shift."

"Yeah, but the Chevelle's gonna be different than your Mustang," he told me, pulling the pool stick back and then thrusting it forward, sending the nine ball into the side pocket.

I leaned forward on the table fixing him with a stare as he moved again to line up the cue ball with another stripe. He was in mid-shot when I spoke. A smirk slithered its way onto my lips.

"What's wrong, Reid? You don't want my hand on your stick?"

He fumbled. The pool stick slid out of his hand and the cue ball missed the stripe by far, bouncing off the side of the table.

"That's not very fair, Roxi," Reid said approaching me now. He came to stand in front of me, looking down, his blue eyes fixed on mine. "It's pretty much a trick question."

I shrugged. "Well?" My eyebrows were raised expectedly.

He sighed. "Fine, if you win, which I don't think you will, you can drive my car."

"There's a 'but' coming isn't there?" I asked flatly.

He grinned. "_But_ you also have to come and stay with me at my parents' house while they're gone. It's going to be an empty house and I told them I'd check up on it from time to time. We can get some alone time in," he said.

My heart raced and I nearly started panicking. This was something that I had been worried about. "Reid," I began, but he held up a finger to silence me.

He shook his head. "I didn't mean it like that, Roxi. Calm down. I just meant away from Caleb and Tyler and everybody else," Reid told me.

I nodded and relaxed a bit. Still, the idea of being alone with Reid made me feel intimidated. I just wasn't ready to take that step with Reid. I mean, we'd only just told each other how we felt last night. It was far too early in the relationship for sex. I figured that every girl Reid ever went out with or whatever you could call it, since they weren't really relationships, those girls slept with him.

I wasn't one of those girls.

It wasn't like I hadn't thought about it, but I was still a virgin and the whole thought of having sex with him, made me nervous beyond belief. He was a lot more… experienced than I was. I certainly didn't know all the tricks or anything like that and I'm sure that he was used to that. Reid had to know that I was completely inexperienced in that department, right?

I must have had some kind of expression on my face that worried Reid because I watched his face go from smiling to frowning.

"Are you alright?" he asked me, stepping closer and putting his bare finger tips to my forehead. "You're looking kind of sick."

I brushed his hand away and shook my head. "I'm fine. Just thinking that's all." I took a deep breath and leaned over the table to make my shot. I wanted to focus back on the game.

"Well. Do we have a deal? I sort of want you to come and stay either way, unless you don't want to, that's cool, too," he said looking away from me and focusing on the table. The way he said it, made me feel bad.

It wasn't that I didn't trust Reid or anything, but if the subject came up, I felt almost embarrassed to let him know I was still "pure". I was also sure that he didn't hear the word "no" too much from the girls he was with and although I knew he wouldn't force himself on me or anything like that, I felt bad making him feel like I didn't want him. Because I did, I just wasn't ready.

It was a big mess inside my brain at the moment as I pulled the stick back to hit a solid ball. That mess was all put aside as somebody slapped my ass. I yelped and jumped forward into the table, dropping the stick and sending the pool balls moving off in different directions.

I whipped around to laughter coming from none other than Aaron Abbot. Well, my night was ruined. I was about to open my mouth and bitch him out before punching him in the face, but Reid was quicker than I.

"What the fuck Abbot?" Reid practically hissed, standing next to me, getting in Aaron's face. "Don't fucking touch her!"

An alarm went off in my head. They were probably about to fight, because it seemed like Aaron just so happened to be looking for one tonight. Either that or he was just an asshole. It was probably all of the above.

"What are you going to do about it, Garwin?" Aaron snapped back in a cocky tone. Yeah, I was right.

"I'm gonna kick your ass," Reid replied hotly. His hands curled into fists by his side, the pool stick long forgotten leaning against the table.

I had to put a stop to this quick before we got kicked out. Caleb told me that the provost told him that he didn't want to hear about anymore fights while Chase was around. At the moment, neither Caleb nor Chase were anywhere in sight, so I figured Caleb wouldn't get in any trouble or something stupid like that. But I wouldn't let Reid get in trouble over me.

I put my hand on his arm. "Reid, just forget it. He's a fucking prick, but he's not worth it," I said, trying to calm him down and move him away from Aaron. "Let's just get back to the game."

"Yeah, Garwin, why don't you listen to your little whore-bitch," Aaron spat.

I turned to give him a nasty look, but that must have been the straw that broke the camel's back because in a split second Reid and shaken my arm off and punched Aaron right in the face. He hit him with such a force that it knocked Aaron, who hadn't expected it, back into his friends and a bar stool. It made me wonder if he had used.

Reid had split Aaron's lip and now he was getting up with the help of Bordy and Ryan.

"Looks like you're the bitch now, Abbot," Reid said a smirk on his face.

Aaron was getting ready to fight back, but Nicky intervened right away.

"Take it someplace else boys. Don't make me call the cops. You're done here tonight."

He had his bat again in his hands and it all seemed too familiar like this had happened already. Oh wait, it had, _last_ Saturday. I hoped this wasn't turning into some kind of habit.

"Yeah, sure, we're out," Reid said putting his hands up innocently. I leaned my pool stick against the table and felt Reid's arm go around my waist. I glared at Aaron as we passed. What a way for him to try and ruin a great night. Oh well, fuck him. I wasn't going to let him ruin my fun with Reid.

"I can't believe you punched him," I said when I could finally find my voice to speak. I was still in a way in shock. I couldn't believe it.

He shrugged still looking angry. "Yeah, well he was being a dick. He had it coming to him." Then he gave me a weak smile. "I'm sorry I got us kicked out though, Roxi."

He opened my door for me and I got in. I shook my head. "Don't worry about it. We'll just go for a swim. I think you were kind of winning anyway."

Reid smiled and closed my door before getting into the car as well. He started up the Chevelle. "We could call it a tie? Do you want to drive?" he asked.

"Nah, it's okay. I'll drive it some other time," I replied, buckling my seat belt.

"Are you sure you don't want to?" He sighed. "Did I ruin tonight for you?"

I looked at him incredulously, furiously shaking my head. "No way," I told him. "Besides, it was kind of nice to see Aaron get socked in the face."

He smiled again. "I had to defend your honor, Roxi. You know I wouldn't let anything happen to you," he said softly.

My heart melted. "Thank you, Reid." I reached up and pulled his face to mine, pressing my lips to his. I pulled away and grinned. "You won the bet," I whispered.

He put his hands on either side of my face and quickly pulled me back in for a searing hot kiss. I felt warm all over with his lips on mine, all the way down to my toes in fact. I realized then that nobody had ever kissed me the way that Reid did. He held nothing back and I never felt such strong emotion through a kiss as I did with him.

He had a way of kissing me in the tenderest way, but with so much feeling that it practically drove me crazy. I personally couldn't get enough of kissing him and would have stayed like that in the car forever, but he pulled away slowly and smiled at me.

"You ready to go?" Reid asked before kissing my cheek.

I nodded and smiled back. "Yeah we can go now."

As Reid drove us back to the house and we cranked up the radio loud. The Offspring's "Self Esteem" was playing on the radio station and we belted it out just like we used to do when we were younger. We laughed of course as our sort of old habits fell back into place with no problem at all. Almost like I had never left. There were a lot of songs that the boys and I used to have fun singing along to, completely out of tune, as we grew up.

It was what got us through the nights upstairs in one of our bedrooms while our parents had their Christmas and New Year's parties with all of their friends. I remember that we used to sneak glasses of champagne up to the bedrooms, blast our own music, and party upstairs. Just the five of us and whatever dates or friends we decided to bring over. It was always a fun time with my boys.

Downstairs with the adults was always really boring, but our parents wanted us to stay downstairs and greet everyone, so at some point we'd slip away and go upstairs where everything didn't have to be so polite and proper. We did it during every party for as long as I could remember. Some of my greatest memories were with my boys. Sure, we argued from time to time, but nothing could tear us apart. And I meant _nothing_. I wouldn't let it!

We pulled into the driveway after listening to a few more songs. It didn't take very long because Reid drove pretty fast. That was one of the things that I really liked about him. He wasn't as much of a thrill seeker as Pogue, but he still liked to push the boundaries a bit and it made me feel alive. I always knew I could depend on Reid to be entertaining.

Reid turned the car off and grinned at me before reaching into the backseat and pulling out what looked like a pair of shorts. Swim trunks. He got out of the car and I followed suit. We headed into the house, Reid kicked off his shoes and I took off my boots and we went upstairs.

I actually had some time this past week to put all of my things away in my dresser drawers, so I actually knew where my black bikini was instead of having to dig through a bunch of duffle bags and suitcases. I was officially all settled in.

I opened my closed bedroom door. Caleb must have shut it after he left. I wondered if he took my advice to go out with Sarah again tonight because his car wasn't in the driveway when we pulled in.

"Do you want to change first?" I asked as I rummaged through my top underwear drawer for my bathing suit. I knew it was in here somewhere.

So much for being organized. Oh wait, found it. I pulled it out of the drawer before closing it.

Reid shook his head. "Nah, you can change in the bathroom. I'll change in here," he replied motioning for me to go into the bathroom.

I shrugged, but walked into the bathroom regardless to get changed. I left my clothes in a pile on the floor of my bathroom and put my bikini on. It was just a simple, black string bikini with a little bow on the top between my breasts.

I had gotten a pretty decent tan over the summer, so my bathing suit fit exactly over the paler skin of my body. I looked at myself in the mirror and wondered if I looked good enough for Reid. I had curves, but they were a bit more subtle than in your face obvious and I was fit. I liked it the way that it way. I was proportionate and that was something I was pretty pleased about, so why wouldn't he dislike it?

I sighed and made up my mind that Reid liked me, so I shouldn't worry so much about what he would like and wouldn't like about me since he already did. I opened the bathroom door and turned off the light, seeing my blonde man sitting on my bed. He looked up when I walked into the room and just stared at me for a bit before a wide grin spread across his face.

He stood up from the bed and walked over to me, meeting me in the middle of the room. "Well, hello there, Gorgeous. Come here often?"

I blushed and giggled which was something that I rarely did. I had a feeling I was overreacting in the other room. "Well, I happen to live here, so yes. Are you ready for a swim?"

"Sure," he said kissing my cheek, taking my hand in his and leading me outside after we took two towels with us from the top of my hamper by the door. "Are you ready to get wet?" Reid's sly smirk was on his face.

I rolled my eyes at his comment, but didn't reply. Anything that I said was going to be taken the wrong way when he was in this frame of mind. "So your parents leave Wednesday, huh?"

"Yeah, so what do you think? It's up to you, Roxi," he sounded hopeful though and I remembered how rejected he looked at Nicky's when he first asked me. I didn't want to hurt Reid and I really did trust him, so why not?

"Okay," I said after giving it a little bit of thought. It might have been fun. Besides, there was a pretty big chance that he would want to throw a party while his parents were away and I could do my "best" to prevent him from trashing his parents' house.

"Really?" he asked incredulously as a smile tugged at his lips.

"Yes, I'd love to stay there with you." I quickly kissed his cheek.

We walked through the house to get to the sliding glass doors in the back. I flipped on the light to the back porch as we went out. The back of the house was lit and I had forgotten how much land Caleb's family owned. The grounds went near a half of mile back until it reached some trees.

It was rare of them to have parties outside since the majority of their parties were in the winter, but there were a few times when we were younger that Caleb's parents threw a party in the summer. It was a shame too, because the backyard was amazingly beautiful.

The porch was cemented, but had a raised wooden deck that surrounded the huge in-ground, kidney-shaped pool. There was another deck-like area a few feet down from that and in the center sat the in-ground hot tub. It reminded me of a fancy hotel sometimes, but it wasn't unusual to find this sort of layout in the back of any of the Covenant's member's backyards.

Sometimes even inside. Reid's parents had an indoor pool area that was enclosed in a large glass room that you stepped into from the French doors of the house. Tyler's parents had a similar layout as did Pogue's. My house was pretty close to an in between design of the two.

I really missed it when I thought about it. I mean, I had grown up in that house and so it was really hard not to live there anymore. Just to think about the fact that somebody else was living in it right now killed me. I was jealous. That was _my_ house.

But I lived here, now and it wasn't so bad.

"Hot tub or pool first? What are you thinking?" I asked Reid looking from the hot tub spot to the pool that lay a few feet before us now. We tossed our towels on the patio chairs that were around the pool.

"Hmm," he said thoughtfully before grabbing me around the waist, running over to the edge, and tossing me into the pool. I barely had time to get a scream out.

It was a bit cooler than bath water and it felt great on a September night. However, it would have felt even better had I not been tossed in. I popped back up out of the water and brushed the droplets from my face before setting Reid, who was laughing his ass off, with a glare.

"You sneaky son of a bitch!" I said accusingly as I made my way over to the steps to get out of the pool. He was going to get it for sure.

"Aw, I'm sorry, babe, but it was too easy," Reid said between chuckles.

"Well, aren't you going to get in with me?" I asked innocently as I walked over to him, a flirty smile on my lips.

He looked a bit suspicious, but when I had finally reached him, I pulled him in for a kiss, pressing my wet body against his. Reid seemed surprised for a moment, but kissed me back and then he was shocked as I shoved him back into the pool, instantly breaking our kiss.

He disappeared under the water only to resurface right near the edge and he grabbed my foot yanking me forward and into the pool on top of him. He caught me of course, but it was still terrifying to go flying through the air. Reid held me close to him and grinned.

"Who's sneaky now, Roxi," Reid asked raising an amused eyebrow. At least he wasn't mad at me for playing such a trick on him. That's another thing that I loved about him; he could take a joke and didn't get all defensive.

I put my arms around his neck. "I guess me, but I got you back didn't I?" I replied beaming.

I was pretty pleased with myself and although I wouldn't have used my body to trick Reid into anything, getting him back for throwing me in was just too sweet of an opportunity to pass up.

"Yeah, and here I thought you just wanted to kiss me," he said letting go of me with a fake frown.

"No!" I said, as I wrapped my legs around his waist and tightened my arms around him. "I _do_ want to kiss you."

He grinned at that, his arms came back around me. One of his hands was drawing circles on my lower back, the other pushing me closer to him from the middle of my back. "Well, that's good to hear then," he told me as he closed the distance between our lips and kissed me in a way that had my head spinning.

My hands tangled in his blonde hair much like they had last night. There was something about running my hands through his hair that he really must have enjoyed because he groaned again, pulling me closer to him. I felt his tongue run across my bottom lip and I opened my mouth instantly. Our tongues touched softly just teasing each other.

I let my right hand slide down from his hair to his toned chest, just pressing my palm against the muscles there for a bit before lightly dragging my fingertips over his skin. I was able to finally feel his abs like this and they felt amazing.

I felt my back touch the wall of the pool and Reid's hands slid to the front of my body. One hand was running over my thigh, while the other's fingers danced across my torso up to the tiny bow on my bikini top. His fingers brushed the skin there and I gasped lightly into Reid's mouth. When he pulled away, I was breathless, but his lips only moved to my neck and down. Now that there wasn't a sweatshirt blocking his access, his lips brushed below my collarbone.

My hand on his abs moved around to behind his back where my fingers then pressed into his flesh. I had only felt the muscles on Reid through his clothes, never bare and wet. It was an invigorating feeling and made me nearly dizzy with excitement. I felt Reid gently nipping at my skin and I moaned quietly, just in time to hear the sliding door shut loudly.

Reid's head snapped up to look for the threat of the noise only to see Sarah and Caleb standing there in their suits looking a little surprised and uncomfortable. I felt my face get incredibly hot. Of all times for them to decide to go for a swim.

"Uh, sorry, were we interrupting something?" Sarah asked an almost knowing smile on her face.

Caleb looked a little less than pleased, but I saw relief wash across his face as he probably realized that it was a good idea they stopped us when they did. He mumbled something that from what I could make out sounded a lot like, "I hope so."

Reid looked annoyed, but pulled a fake smile for Sarah and my cousin.

"No, not at all," he replied, although I could tell by the way he turned to look at me that he was disappointed we weren't alone anymore. He stepped back and let me slide down from the wall of the pool. When my feet touched the ground, his arms were around my waist again.

"Mind if we join you?" Caleb asked.

I knew it was only because he was trying to act like he didn't want to get in our space when in reality it was his pool and even if we would have said "no", he would have stuck around anyway.

_Especially_ after what they just witnessed.

Reid and I shook our heads and they dropped their towels on two patio chairs. I took that moment while they had their backs turned to kiss Reid hard on the mouth. We broke apart quickly and I smiled up at him. He placed another kiss on the top of my head.

A part of me was honestly curious what would have happened had we not been interrupted. Would we have stopped? Would I have actually told him "no"? I knew that my _body_ was certainly ready; however my mind and heart weren't quite up to speed with my body on that subject just yet. I was still nervous when I thought about it, but a few seconds ago, I hadn't really been thinking much at all except for Reid and his touch. He kind of had that effect on me.

Caleb and Sarah walked down the stairs and into the pool with friendly smiles on their faces.

"How long were you guys at Nicky's?" Caleb asked.

I was suspicious as to why he was asking that. Did he want to know if we'd been home alone together for a while? I'd already told him we weren't sleeping together and that I wasn't stupid… although I'm sure that was totally believable now that he'd seen us in the pool.

But so what? I was allowed to kiss Reid as much as I wanted and I planned on making a habit out of it. His kisses were simply addicting.

Reid answered him first. "Not too long. Aaron showed up and we couldn't stand to look at him anymore, so we left."

Sarah laughed. "Yeah, he's just lovely isn't he?" she joked.

I stuck my tongue out in disgust. "Definitely not. He's my least favorite person, next to Kira of course," I replied.

She grinned and rolled her eyes dramatically. "Tell me about it."

We spent the rest of the night just hanging out in the pool. We never did make it into the hot tub, but the pool just felt so nice, it was hard to get out. We did though after a few hours of chatting and playing games in the pool. Just the four of us and it was kind of nice. We all got along so well and I was so right about Sarah and Caleb being perfect for each other. I could see it in the way they looked at each other and it made me curious if people say Reid and I looking that way.

The night officially came to an end when Caleb drove Sarah home and I kissed Reid on the door of his car for a lot longer than I should have before he smiled that heart stopping smile of his and wished me sweet dreams. I ended up watching from the porch as he left. I went back in, closed the door, and leaned against it with a dreamy sigh. I never had been happier in my life.

I didn't stop thinking about Reid even as my head hit the pillow and I closed my eyes to sleep. I couldn't wait to see him again.


	10. Bonding

**Disclaimer_: I do not own the concept or characters from the movie, "The Covenant." Any other characters not related to the movie, are mine and are NOT to be used in any other fan fictions. I also don't own the Offspring or any of their music._**

**Author Note: **_Hey guys, here's chapter 10. Sorry that I updated a bit later than I said I was going to on my profile page, I've been really busy.__ I hope you enjoy! _

_**Please don't forget to review!** __Thank you for reading and **thanks so much to my loyal reviewers**! -IB_

* * *

I was having the best dream about ice cream and Reid when lyrics of Disturbed sang through the air and caused me to jump from my sleep. A dream that if he ever found out about, he would never let me live it down. I stretched and reached an arm over to my nightstand and answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Morning baby. Did I wake you up?" Reid asked.

"Kind of, but it's not a big deal. I had to get up eventually anyway. What's up?" I asked, sitting up against the headboard and the many pillows on my bed. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and yawned.

"Sorry about that then. I got a bunch of shit to do around here today, but Baby Boy wanted to come and hang with you. He's in the shower, so I figured I'd just tell you now."

"Oh, that's okay," I told him. Ty and I hadn't exactly hung out by ourselves too much lately. The three of us had study hall together, but we didn't have a chance to hang just us two. "Is he coming over here?"

"Yeah, probably after he gets out of the shower, he'll head over there. I might stop by later, but it depends on how long it takes."

"How long what takes?" I asked curiously. I was trying not to be nosy, but I had to admit that I wondered what stuff he had to do. Maybe some stuff with his parents. I wasn't suspicious of him or anything, just curious.

"Nothing. Just some boring errands I have to get done today," Reid answered smoothly.

Now I was a bit suspicious. He had answered too quickly.

"Why can't you tell me?" I prodded.

"Because it's really nothing important, Roxi. Listen, do want me to pick anything up while I'm out?" he asked.

I thought for a moment. Why wouldn't Reid tell me? It wasn't something bad was it? Should I have been worried? I didn't know, but I already was. "Uh, no not really. Maybe you could surprise me with something to put on my bedroom walls, since I still have a few blank spots."

"Okay, I try to find something good then," he replied. "Ty's out of the shower now, so give him about an hour to get over there, he takes as long as a girl to— hey!"

"Reid," I scolded over the phone. "Don't pick on Tyler!"

"He's defending himself, Rox, don't worry. He just smacked me in the face with his pillow," Reid answered annoyed.

I smiled and shook my head, amused at the two of them. And then I remembered something.

"Hey, whatever happened to that date he had a week ago?" I might as well ask while it was fresh in my mind.

I was curious as to how it went. Tyler was usually pretty shy around girls, except me of course (although it took him some time to get completely comfortable around me), so I was wondering just who it was that he was with. I assumed that she'd probably be a little shy herself, but outgoing enough to maybe bring out some confidence in Ty. He needed it.

"What date?" he asked confused. "Oh, you mean on Sunday? He didn't really have a date, he went to the library."

I frowned. "Then why did you say he did?"

I could practically hear the grin in his voice. "Because going to the library around girls is about as close to a date as Baby Boy's going to get."

"Now you're just being an asshole," I said flatly.

Poor Tyler having to put up with Reid 24/7. I felt bad for all the teasing the boys did to Tyler, playful or not. He was just shy, that was all. He'd find a girl good for him soon enough, it was just better if maybe she was a bit more outgoing. Then maybe he'd loosen up a little.

"I'm just kidding, babe. Calm down," he said sighing. "Tyler's out now, so he'll be there soon. Have fun, but he'd better keep his hands to himself."

I think that was aimed more at Ty than at me because I heard Tyler's voice in the background, although I couldn't make out what he said. Obviously he told Ty about us. They were closer to each other than the Pogue or Caleb.

"Yeah, well, it's just a warning," Reid responded to Tyler.

I rolled my eyes at Reid even though he couldn't see me. "Ty's not going to do anything, you're overreacting."

"Just making sure, babe," he said. "Hey, I'm gonna go. Ty'll be over soon."

"Okay, I'll hopefully see you later then. Bye."

"Later."

I was looking forward to hang out with Tyler, but I would still really like to see Reid again today. At least I could here his voice over the phone. It was something and after all, we had just seen each other last night. We really didn't need to see each other every minute of every day, but I still sort of missed him. That annoyed me because I didn't like being the clingy girl who needed to be around her boy at all times.

I had no intention of becoming that. It was probably good that we had some time apart. I always liked my space when I was dating someone, even if I liked them a lot, I never thought that we needed to be together all the time. I planned on staying that way, just with Reid, it was a little bit more difficult.

I sighed and pulled out of my thoughts. I figured that it wouldn't be long before Tyler got here, so I might as well take a shower and get dressed. I looked out the window to find it raining lightly. We would probably just stay inside today; there wasn't much to do outside anyway when it was raining.

After a nice, hot shower, I decided on a white tank top and a pair of black yoga pants. On rainy days, it was best to be comfy. I still wondered what Reid had planned today that he couldn't clarify with me, but I figured I was being too nosy and that if he really wanted to tell me, he would have. I just hoped that he wasn't getting himself into trouble. That and a minor part of me worried about the potential for other girls to be in his life. But then I thought I was just being silly and Caleb had gotten into my head.

I had a lot more faith in Reid than that. A lot more.

The doorbell interrupted the continuation of my thoughts and I threw on some socks and headed down the stairs to get the door. There stood Tyler who smiled brightly when he saw me. All shyness aside, Ty was a great friend. He was a great guy and I knew he'd find some girl soon enough would be perfect for him, or maybe she'd find him. Either way, I knew he'd find someone for him. He deserved a good girl; a good girl for a good guy.

"Hey Ty!" I said throwing my arms around him and bringing him in for a hug.

"Hi," he replied with a chuckle as he hugged me back and kissed the top of my head.

"Hungry?" I asked as I pulled him inside and shut the front door. "I haven't eaten yet, what about you?"

Tyler shook his head. "I had a granola bar, but I could use some real breakfast."

I grinned. "Then come on."

"Where's Caleb?" he asked looking around.

I shrugged. "I don't know. I haven't seen him yet this morning. He's probably eating breakfast or up in his room."

"So you and Reid, huh?" There was a smile on his face as he looked at me.

We walked into the kitchen seeing bacon, eggs, and sausage links laid out on the marble island. Jane must have made breakfast only a short while ago because it was still pretty warm.

I smiled and nodded.

"It's about time," he said rolling his eyes, his lips still held a smile.

"Hey!" I said smacking him in the arm. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Tyler shrugged and looked away after grabbing the plate that I handed him and started to place some pieces of bacon on it. "Just that things were different after you left. That's all."

I narrowed my eyes suspiciously. "Different how?" I put some food on my own plate even as I studied him.

"We just all missed you is all. It showed in different ways, but we missed you. Reid can tell you for himself, but I'm just glad that you're back," he replied, putting his plate of food in the microwave to heat up a bit.

It made me think back to that night at Nicky's when I had wondered about whether or not things had changed when I was gone. I'd have to ask Reid about it later. I didn't want to make him uncomfortable about asking him, but I figured on Wednesday night when we had time to ourselves I could bring it up casually.

"I'm glad I'm back, too." I said before setting my plate down at the table next to him. "Hey, don't listen to Reid about that whole library comment, okay? You can totally get a girl. You just have to find one that's right for you."

"Okay, Dr. Danvers," he said grinning. "But really, thanks."

We ate quickly and just as we had finished, Caleb came in. "Hey," he said smiling.

"Morning," we replied.

"What do you guys have planned for today?" he asked sitting down and beginning to eat.

Ty and I exchanged glances and shrugged. "Not too much. Probably just some video games or something. We're just gonna hang around here. You can join us if you want," I told him.

He shook his head. "Thanks, but I have some stuff I have to do today for mom."

"Okay, well, we're going to head upstairs then. See you later, Cal."

We put our dishes in the sink for Jane to wash later and went upstairs to my room.

Let the video game wars begin.

* * *

It was Monday after school and Kate, Sarah, and I were hanging out in their dorm room listening to some tunes while the boys were at swim practice. It was beginning to turn into a routine for us lately to Kate was brushing out her hair like she always seemed to be doing, Sarah was sitting cross-legged on her bed, and I was lying on my back on Kate's bed staring up at the plain white ceiling.

Tyler and I had spent the majority of yesterday playing video games and drinking pop before going downstairs in the basement's rec room to play a game of pool. Reid ended up coming over later to hang out for a bit before he and Ty left for the night. I still never found out what he did earlier and was continuing to contemplate it when Kate's voice broke through my thoughts.

"So are things with you and Caleb getting serious yet?" Kate asked across the room from her vanity mirror.

Sarah sighed almost in a dreamy state. "I don't know, I guess you could say they are. Maybe not too serious, but I really like him."

I smiled up at the ceiling. I could only imagine that her face held that same distant expression that Caleb's held whenever I asked him about her.

"Maybe not as serious as Roxi and Reid were looking in the pool on Saturday night," she added before laughing. "That is before we interrupted them."

I turned my head to glare at her, a smile tugging at my lips. "Yeah, whatever."

Kate looked over at us with raised brows. Apparently Sarah hadn't told her yet. Maybe she wanted to see my reaction when she embarrassed me.

"Oh really?" Kate asked grinning.

"Yep," Sarah replied smiling. "Caleb and I decided to go for a swim and walked out the door to find a pretty heated moment between the two of them, if you ask me."

I rolled my eyes a faint blush on my cheeks. "So _anyway_," I said loudly, changing the subject. "Are you guys going to the Fall Fest on Saturday?"

Sarah shook her head. "I don't know. Caleb hasn't said anything."

"I'm sure he'll ask you. It's the same day as his birthday. You could be his birthday present, Sar," I told her smiling. I was sure Caleb would enjoy that. He liked her enough that he'd surely ask her to the dance.

"Oh, you think you're just so cute," she replied rolling her eyes playfully. "What about you, Kate?"

Kate shrugged, putting her hair brush down. "Probably. That's where Pogue and I met last year. We'll probably go again."

"Really?" Sarah asked. "That's sweet."

"Yeah, we started dating a few months after that."

I sat up. "I hadn't realized that you guys were together for so long," I admitted.

Kate smiled. "Yeah, we really didn't talk to each other very much before the Fall Fest. The boyfriend that I had at the time was a real asshole. He doesn't go to Spenser anymore, he got kicked out last semester, but he and I got into a huge fight. I found out that he was cheating on me with some other girl from his old school. We ended up breaking up obviously. I was really upset and Pogue asked me dance. At first I was reluctant to go because I was so pissed off about the whole cheating thing, but he sat down and joked around with me and got me to loosen up. I finally said yes to the dance and then in December I said yes to be his girlfriend."

"That's Pogue for you," I said smiling. I was proud of the way that the men that my boys had grown up to become. I wondered if they felt proud of me and the person that _I_ had become. "He can be a real sweetie when he tries. I used to get along with him better than Reid or Tyler when we were younger. He's just really outgoing and he has that feel good atmosphere around him."

"Yeah, exactly," Kate said nodding. "I guess that's why I was so drawn to him."

"It sounds like you guys really have a great relationship," I added. "You're definitely better off with Pogue than any other guy, let me tell you that."

"I feel like there is still so much I have to get to know about all of you," Sarah said flopping back on her bed with a huff.

"Aw, come on, Sarah. You know a lot about us. Don't feel like you're out of the loop or something. There are still things that I don't know about the two of you. I just know the guys really well, that's all," I told her shaking my head. "Tell us something about you then. And if you want, I'll answer anything you want, well _almost _anything, but I'll do the best I can."

She sighed and was quiet for a minute before she sat back up on her bed. Kate came to sit next to me on hers and I scooted over to make room for her.

"What were they all like when they were younger?" She looked curious and when I glanced at Kate, her expression mirrored Sarah's.

I took a deep breath. "Well," I started, "Caleb was still pretty responsible, but he didn't have to be until Uncle James. He was a little but more carefree back then. He was always a leader though. I think he was just born that way."

Sarah and Kate both nodded and laughed. "Yeah, he seems like he would be."

I continued. "He and I were always really close and he tried to look out for me as much as possible even when we were kids. My dad and Uncle James would constantly tell him to watch out for me whenever we went out to play. When I met Reid, I instantly couldn't stand him which is funny to me now, but he was really irritating."

Kate mouth dropped. "Really? You guys didn't like each other at all? That's hilarious because I never would have know that by the way you two act now."

"Oh yeah, he was such a smart ass even as a young kid that I hated him. He was always picking on me. Plus, when we were ten, he once locked me in the basement with the lights off and my Auntie Evelyn kept antique, porcelain dolls down there, so I was completely freaked out. I was so pissed off that I actually punched him I think and Caleb and Pogue gave him hell about it, too. The two of them were like older brothers to me."

"Yeah, I can totally see that," Sarah commented.

I nodded. "Pogue was like a little dare devil when we were younger. He was really into trying to do tricks with his bike and believe it or not, he even used to skateboard. Reid and he used to skateboard together and as much as I loved Pogue and thought skateboarding was cool, because Reid did it, I hated it for a while. We actually didn't start to get along until we were twelve. He finally wasn't so annoying to me and we started to become closer. Ty and I were always pretty close, it just took him a while to completely warm up to me. You know how shy he can be."

Sarah looked quizzically for a moment. "Why do they call him Baby Boy?"

"Cause he's the youngest of the four of them. I'm a month younger than Reid and a few weeks older than Tyler. Reid's called him that for as long as I can remember. That was another thing that used to annoy me to no end about him, too. I didn't like that he picked on Ty like that either. We were all just really close though. It was like a second nature for us to hang around together, so I've never really made any good friends outside of them. Well, besides for you guys now."

"Aw, thanks girl," Kate said, pulling me into a side hug.

I laughed and hugged her back. I waved Sarah over. "Come on, you know you want to get in on this hugging party."

She grinned and hopped over to smother us in a hug, too. When we had settled down from laughing, we sat in a sort of triangle. "So tell us something about you now. Who is Sarah Wenham?"

She thought for a moment. "Hm, well my life is pretty boring compared to you guys. I don't have any cute boyfriend stories like Kate or best friend stories like you, Roxi. I have a cousin named Ally. She's the closest thing I had to a sister, but she's a year younger than all of us. We used to hang out a lot until I got into Spenser. We still email, but it's hard to not see her all the time. Our families used to go camping every fall, so that it was cooler out and I'm going to miss that."

I nodded and grimaced in understanding. Boy, did I know exactly how she felt. It was the hardest thing to leave the people that you loved. And even though I was super happy to be back here in Ipswich with my boys and now Kate and Sarah, I missed my parents. I had just talked to my mom during the last week, but it was still hard to be away from them. When Sarah mentioned camping it made me think back to all the times that we used to camp out in each other's backyards.

"You know," I began with a hopeful smile. "I know it won't be the same or anything, but we could all go camping together. The guys and I used to camp in the backyard when we were younger and we've wanted to go on a real camping trip for a long time now. We could go sometime soon."

It would be nice to have Kate and Sarah along on our camping trip, we probably could even invite Chase since the boys were getting closer with him. I only was able to talk to him during English class and lunch. He wasn't so bad. I couldn't see myself getting as close with him as the guys or the girls, but he wasn't bad.

Sarah seemed to perk up at that. "Yes, that's be an awesome idea!"

"Alright, Rox, I'm totally in for that. I usually don't do camping, but I think it could really be a lot of fun with all of us together."

"Boys' tent and girls' tent?"

I shook my head. "No, we could probably sleep where ever we wanted. Reid and I already sleep together now, so it wouldn't be any different camping. It'd be up to you guys what you wanted to do though. I'll run it passed Reid on Wednesday, you guys can talk to Caleb and Pogue if you want."

"What's Wednesday?" Sarah asked.

I sighed. "I'm supposed to be staying with Reid for a few days at his parents' house with they're in Spain."

"Well, that sounds like fun," Kate said nudging me playfully.

"Yeah, it'll be nice to hang out, just the two of us, without Caleb breathing down our necks. Though I must say, he's gotten a little bit better, but still."

"It'd be nice to not get interrupted?" Sarah asked knowingly wincing.

"Exactly."

"Sorry again about the whole pool thing. If I had known you guys were going to be out there, I wouldn't have let Caleb suggest we go out there."

I shook my head and laughed. "That's _why_ he suggested it in the first place! He knew we were out there and he wanted to make sure we weren't doing anything… inappropriate or irresponsible or something along those lines. It's no big deal. I think Reid was more upset about it then I was."

"So are you and Reid going to the Fall Fest?" Kate asked shifting over onto her side as she lay on the bed playing with a string on her comforter.

"I don't know yet," I answered honestly. "He hasn't said anything about it yet, so I don't know."

"Well, after he asks you, we should all go dress shopping, I saw a great place in town the other day," Sarah suggested excitedly.

"Yeah, that sounds like a great plan. I have a few dresses that I've worn on other occasions and I brought them along just in case, but I'd like to find a different one to wear," I said nodding.

I wasn't big on shopping for one, but I did want to look good if we were going to be going to a dance. I wasn't sure if Reid would even want to go, let alone ask me, but I'd just have to wait and see.

"I already have a dress to wear, but I'd still like to go with you guys. Hell, I might even find another one that I like better instead," Kate said sighing. "You know, this year is turning out to be pretty great."

I smiled. "I second that for sure."

"It's just nice to find some girls that aren't stuck up bitches. It's pretty damn rare," she added.

"Again, I very enthusiastically second that," I said grinning.

Sarah smiled. "Me, too!"

I couldn't believe how comfortable I had gotten around the two of them. They were so easy to talk to now that I got to know them. I could see what Caleb and Pogue saw in them. They were pretty awesome, easy to talk to, and I had a lot of fun with them. Plus, I could get out whatever girlie tendencies I had with them (like dress shopping and chatting about the boys) instead of around the guys.

"Yep, I think this year's gonna be damn amazing."


	11. Truth or Dare

**Disclaimer_: I do not own the concept or characters from the movie, "The Covenant." Any other characters not related to the movie, are mine and are NOT to be used in any other fan fictions. I also don't own the Scary Movie or any other thing you recognize._**

**Author Note: **_Hey guys, here's chapter 11. It took me a while to update, but this is a super long chapter. My longest chapter yet, by far and I hope you all enjoy it!_

_**Please don't forget to review!** __Thank you for reading and **thanks so much to my loyal reviewers**! Enjoy! -IB_

* * *

It was Wednesday morning at Spenser, right after English class and Reid and I were making our way through the halls to get to math class. One good thing about math class was that we didn't have to look at Aaron's ugly face, plus Reid and I got to sit next to each other. We did have Ryan though, but he didn't say much to us unless Aaron was around. Of course, neither did Bordy. Only when Aaron was near did it seem like the two of them had voices. I guess that was good news for us then, since we didn't have to listen to asshole remarks all throughout class.

I was now sitting next to Reid and doodling in my notebook as he obnoxiously, but discreetly enough, blew into my ear to distract me from the current lecture about… well I wasn't sure because Reid was doing a pretty good job at keeping my attention.

"Will you stop it?" I asked in a hushed voice, not looking up from my doodles. I knew he could hear me. He was close enough.

"I could, but where would the fun be in that? What would I _do_ then?" he asked quietly, sarcasm in his voice. I was sure there was a smirk on his face.

"Gee, I don't know. You could actually try to learn," I replied, I playful smile crossing my face.

He made a pouting face. "But that's boring, babe. Why would I want to do something like that?"

I rolled my eyes and laughed.

"Mr. Garwin, Ms. Danvers, just what is so interesting that you feel you don't need to listen like the rest of the class?" Mr. Stevens, the fifty-something year old professor asked us. All eyes were on us.

"Uh…" I started.

"How awesome polynomials are, Mr. S," Reid replied grinning and looking at me out of the corner of his eye. I couldn't believe he could think on his feet so quickly. How the hell did he even know the word polynomial when he slept through class half of the time and worked to bug me, the other half? He never ceased to amaze or amuse me.

Needless to say, Mr. S wasn't quite as impressed with Reid's response as I was.

"Is that so? Mr. Garwin, I'd like you to switch seats with Mr. Bael for the rest of the hour."

Reid's grin dropped and his eyes narrowed as they fell on Ryan who was now gathering up his things and starting to walk up the steps to his new temporary seat.

"Are you sure?" he asked, the cockiness back in his voice.

Now Mr. Stevens was looking even less amused, if that was even possible. He never looked very enthralled with anything, not even what he was teaching about.

"Yes, I'm positive. Now move."

I sighed. "At least it's not permanent," I mumbled.

Reid didn't move.

"Reid, go, you're going to get into even more trouble. Just go," I whispered.

He looked hesitant and then almost territorial as Ryan finally reached us, standing on the stairs waiting for Reid to move. He gave him another narrow eyed look before grabbing his bag and going to flop himself down in Ryan's uninhabited seat.

Ryan sat down next to me and gave me a quick glance, but said nothing. When we were finally released from the monotone voice of our math teacher for the day, he allowed us to work quietly on our homework for the last ten minutes of class.

I was still doodling in my notebook because I figured that while Reid had swim practice, I would hang out in Sarah and Kate's dorm room like usual and while we were talking, I could get the homework done with no problem.

A throat was cleared next to me and I glanced up to see Ryan looking slightly uncomfortable, but nonetheless, his gaze was on me.

"Can I help you?" I asked raising an eyebrow.

It wasn't that I disliked Ryan, I just hated who he hung around with and I didn't like the two-faced person that he was. Like I said before, he used to be pretty decently friendly, until he got around Aaron. I wasn't sure just how warped he was now. It was possible that he had gotten to be even ruder the longer he was hanging with Aaron. Abbot, himself didn't used to be all that bad either.

Some time during the end of freshman year and the beginning of sophomore year, he turned into a complete dick. I think it was because he was jealous of Caleb being the so-called Golden Boy, even though he hated that name. I also don't think that Aaron wanted to_ be_ the Golden Boy, as much as he wanted to beat him. But I digress.

"Uh, yeah, do you have an extra pen I could borrow? Mine ran out of ink," Ryan replied, holding up his dead pen for good measure.

"Sure." I rummaged through my bag briefly before I found a blue ball point pen. "Here."

He gave me a weak smile. "Thanks."

"Don't you know you're supposed to use a pencil on math?" I asked casually, going back to my drawing, okay so they were doodles, but I had managed to draw a flower, so that was an accomplishment.

I looked down at Reid who was only a few rows ahead of us. He seemed like he was working on his homework or like he was trying to. He kept glancing up at us. He could be smart when he actually applied himself, however I could see why Mr. S would bore the shit out of him.

Ryan snorted. "Well then I guess you could call me a rebel."

I knew a certain rebel whose name was Reid and Ryan didn't even compare. "A rebel, huh?" I asked peeking over at his notebook. "Is that why you're writing a love letter instead of doing the homework?"

He slapped his hand over his paper, frowning. "It's not a love letter. It's my English paper, if you have to know."

"Well, I really didn't. You could have kept it to yourself and let me go on thinking you were into writing love letters," I replied setting my pencil down and looking up at the clock on the front of the room. The bell was going to ring soon.

"Yeah, cause that's a masculine quality," he muttered, beginning to pack his things up.

"Hey, you never know, some girls are into that." I was all packed up now and my bag was sitting on my desk waiting to be thrown over my shoulder.

"Might you be one of those girls, Roxanne?" he asked raising an eyebrow, a smirk far less sexy than my blonde hot-head who was now glaring up at us. So Ryan had his moments of being tolerable, I didn't say it was _all _the time.

It was my turn to snort. "Yeah, right. Don't flatter yourself, Ryan." The bell finally rang and I stood up ready to go, but Ryan was closer to the aisle and stood up first sort of blocking me.

Before I knew it, Reid, my cocky knight in fingerless gloves was in sight, standing behind Ryan. "Move it, Bael. Come on, Roxi." He and Ryan exchanged rather hostile looks and I figured that Ryan had definitely turned into more of an asshole even when he wasn't around Aaron. Hmm, it seemed that even more had changed since I had been gone than I fully realized.

Reid held his hand out to me and I took it following him down the stairs. "So, you and Bael have a nice chat?" He sounded a bit bitter at the moment and I wondered why he was so irritated with me.

"Not really. You're not angry with me are you? Because _I_ didn't switch your seats," I replied flatly as we headed out of the room.

Reid grimaced and shook his head as he pulled me off to the side by some empty lockers. "No, I'm not mad. I just… didn't like _him_ talking to you." His thumb rubbed the back of my hand soothingly like he was trying to prevent me from being mad at him.

I raised an eyebrow amused. "Wait, you're not _jealous_ are you?" I asked, a satisfied smile tugging at my lips. I liked the idea of him feeling jealous instead of me for once.

I was always jealous of girls that Reid talked before because I knew that he was interested in them and he didn't think about me like that. Now I wasn't _quite_ as jealous, but it still bugged me when girls smiled at him in the hall or in class. I couldn't help it. I guess in a way I still felt like I was in a competition with all the girls that Reid was with in the past. It was probably stupid, but it couldn't really be helped.

He looked uncomfortable for a moment, but quickly regained his composure. "No, I just don't like him speaking to you. That's all."

My smiled widened. "I think you're jealous, but it's okay. You don't have to admit it."

Reid sighed. "Yeah, okay. So are you all packed for tonight?" he asked looking excited and grinning.

"Yep, I packed everything up last night."

"Nice. So, we'll just pick your stuff up after school. Caleb drove today, didn't he?"

"Yep, did you bring your car to school?" I asked. I found out that he mostly kept it at his parents' house, safe in the four car garage. I didn't remember seeing it out in the parking lot, but then again when I was greeted by a grinning Reid much like every school day, my focus was somewhere else.

"Of course. How else were we going to get around, Roxi?"

"I don't know. It's sunny out, we could have walked. Or stolen Ty's Hummer," I said grinning.

"Just another reminder of why I like you so much, babe" he said smiling with approval.

We walked to my Chemistry class that I had with Caleb. Reid kissed me quickly before going off to his own class.

* * *

Sarah was just finishing up a story about a recent dream she had about creepy ass spiders crawling on her. Spiders were certainly my least favorite thing in the entire world, so I majorly sympathized with her. I not only didn't like the way that they moved and looked at me with their billions of little eyes or however many they had, but I remembered reading something about them in The Book of Damnation. It was possible that I held such a disgust and fear for them because of the fact that they were in the book at all. It just made it worst.

Fucking spiders. Ugh, I was getting the creeps just thinking about them.

I hoped that I didn't find any at Reid's house. I'd been lucky so far to find only one on my wall last week… around 2 o'clock in the morning. Caleb wasn't too pleased to wake up to me screaming and slamming my gym shoe against the wall a million times to make sure it was completely dead. First he thought I was being attacked and when I told him that the spider was plotting to murder me in my sleep he just hadn't made a move yet, so I beat him to it, Caleb looked exasperated and went back to his room. I wasn't so sure if my aunt even opened an eye, she was delving into the whiskey that night.

Spiders and I didn't see eye to eye and incidents like that happened a lot around me. I'd especially been seeing them lately around at school. I figured they were stalking me, but that made me sound a little paranoid. Those hideous, little creepers would do best to stay away from me. Or else I'd be kicking some spider ass. But again, I digress.

Anyway, Sarah was just telling us about her spider dream (which I was fairly accustomed to) when Reid knocked on the dorm room door and said that it was time to go. Swim practice ended around 6:00, sometimes later, so I'd been hanging with my girls for quite a while.

I hugged my girlies good-bye and walked out with him to get to the car… well after we had shared a long heated kiss in the hallway of the dorms that had us getting yelled at by a unsuspecting janitor who just so happened to walked around the corner at the precise moment that Reid's hand started to slide up my skirt, ghosting over the flesh of my thigh.

We laughed our asses off on the way to the car at how awkward the janitor looked like he felt, well mostly just Reid was. I was nearly too embarrassed to laugh. Then we went out to the car and set off to my house so that I could get my stuff. I didn't pack too much. The agreement was that I stayed there with him for the rest of the week until the Fall Fest. After all, we'd probably go out for Caleb's birthday at some point; something planned around the time he ascended.

When the thought of ascending crossed my mind, I realized that Reid really hadn't been using very much around me. I turned to him in my seat as he drove, his eyes on the road.

"You haven't been using as much as I thought," I said quietly.

His eyes slid over to me briefly before focusing back on the road. "Did you want me to be?"

I shook my head. "No, I'm just glad that you're not."

He smiled and lifted his hand off of the shifter. He jerked his head toward it and I placed my hand on the stick, soon to be covered with his own hand. "Good. I like to make you happy, Roxi."

I smiled. "You do. So, are you ready for tonight?" I asked leaning over to kiss his cheek.

He smirked. "Are you hinting at something, babe?"

I shook my head. "No, but I'm excited. Aren't you? I mean, it's just the two of us tonight alone in a big house. It's kind of liberating."

Reid chuckled. "You sound like a little kid all excited because they're parents left them home alone for a bit."

"Aren't you the least bit energized, Reid?"

"Of course I am. I get to spend time with you, now don't I? What could be more exciting than that?" he asked pulling my hand up in his and kissing it before setting our linked hands back over the gear shifter.

We turned into the driveway and Reid parked the car, hopping out with me to help me with my bags.

"I really didn't pack a whole lot. I probably could have carried them by myself."

"Why would I let you carry them by yourself while I sit in the car being useless? Now where's your stuff?" he asked as he waited for me to lead the way.

"Up in my room."

We walked up stairs and into my room where my two medium sized bags sat on my bed. "Wow, you pack pretty light. I forgot that about you."

I nodded. "Yeah, it's only three days, plus I didn't think that I needed to pack five bags worth of stuff that wouldn't even get looked at."

The bags in hand, he went down the stairs and out the door first. Keys in his pocket, he set one of my bags down to open the trunk before putting them both in.

"Thanks," I told him as he closed the trunk.

Reid shrugged. "No problem. It's in my job description."

"Oh? And what exactly is your occupation?" I asked. We had never really clarified if we were actually in a relationship. I mean, our feelings were out there and everything, but it was never declared official or anything, but that might have been my fault when I wanted to keep things from Caleb at first. Maybe that had slowed us down.

He turned around to lean against the trunk, pulling me closer to him as I stood facing him. "Well, I'm currently applying for the position of, I think it's called, the boyfriend of the lovely Roxanne, but that's only if she'll have me." He had a small smile on.

I smiled back only wider. "Oh, I think she's done interviewing and wants to hire."

"Oh, yeah, you think so?" he asked, his smile widening like mine. His arms encircled my waist, pulling me flush against him.

"More than anything," I replied before pulling his head down to meet mine in a passionate kiss.

So many emotions were swirling through me at that moment. Passion, excitement, happiness, anxiety, _desire_. Desire? That was probably a really bad feeling to have when we were going to be all alone tonight and the next night, and the next. I wasn't sure where it came from, but I guess it wasn't the first time I had felt it with Reid. That night in the pool all I could think about was his hands on me and his body so close to mine. I had wanted more.

When we broke apart, Reid was smirking at me and I found that my hands had moved into his hair and under his shirt pressed into his lower abs on their own accord. Needless to say, I was blushing furiously and I pulled my hands back like he was made of fire. Hell, he might as well have been since he somehow always managed to make me so warm.

I bit my lip nervously. "Sorry," I mumbled embarrassed for the second time today, only this time it was totally my fault.

His smirk widened. "_That_ was nothing to be sorry for, babe. You could have continued if you wanted to. Believe me, I wouldn't have stopped you."

"Oh, stop," I replied, my face as warm as the rest of me as I pulled away completely. "Let's go."

Reid chuckled, but followed me and opened my door for me. "Alright. We'll go to my house then, girlfriend of mine."

I hopped into the car, a smile on my face, and he closed the door, going around the front of the Chevelle to get in on the driver's side. I really loved the idea of us straightening things out. I loved the idea of being his girlfriend and him being my boyfriend. Just the fact that he called me his girlfriend made my heart soar. It was such a happy feeling and I couldn't be more delighted to hear the words come out of his mouth.

The drive to Reid's house wasn't all that long and we spent the majority of it in silence, just listening to music. Each of us in our own minds just thinking. I had no clue as to what was running through Reid's head, but when we pulled up and into the long driveway in front of the Garwin's home, he was grinning like crazy.

"We're here. Home sweet home," he said pulling the key out of the ignition and getting out.

I followed in suit and just stared at the huge house, if you could even call it that, which stood before me. It reminded me of Caleb's house in its size and style, but the inside was more modern than that. Auntie Ev had never really gotten around to changing anything in the house since Uncle James went to the old colony house. Gwen, Reid's mother, had certainly kept up with the times. Everything in the place was white leather and marble. The most expensive and stylish of furnishings decorated the rooms of the house. It was beautiful just like I remembered it.

We kicked our shoes off by the door when we entered. Then we tossed my bags on the living room floor and Reid threw his school uniform jacket onto a nearby leather couch and went into the kitchen to get something to eat. Reid opened the fridge and pulled out two steaks in a clear container.

"Romantic dinner, anyone?" he asked grinning as he set the steaks in their container down on the cold, marble counter.

"Sign me up," I said smiling and plopping myself down in a soft bar stool around the marbled island in the middle of the kitchen. "That's very sweet of you."

He looked at me. "What? Cooking a steak for my girl?" He shrugged. "I try."

I laughed and watched as he sprinkled seasoning over the two pieces of meat on a plate. Then he walked to the edge of the kitchen and opened one of the French doors leading out onto the large patio where a stainless steal grill sat waiting to be used. I hopped down off of the stool and followed him out.

Reid lifted the grill's lid and started it before setting the steaks down. I walked up to him and wrapped my arms around him from behind, burying my face in his white shirt, the scent of him filling my lungs. "Well, you're doing a great job."

The sizzle of the steaks signaled that he had dropped them onto the grill. His bigger hands covered mine on his waist and he lifted them up to his lips, placing soft kisses on both of my hands.

"How do you like your steak?"

"Medium-ish," I replied sighing into his back.

"One medium steak coming up then. Are you planning on holding on all night?" he asked, giving my hands a squeeze before setting them back on his waist and flipping the meat on the grill with a nearby spatula.

"Hmm, well I was thinking about it," I said smiling against his white shirt.

"Well, I have no complaints. You pressed up against me for any amount of time sounds like a good plan to me." I felt like he was smirking even though I couldn't see it.

"Reid," I whined. "You're ruining a cute moment."

He turned around, my hands in his and that sneaky look on his face. "It doesn't have to be cute. It could be very _hot_."

He pulled me into a mind blowing kiss that left me speechless and mindless and I was stunned even when he pulled away to flip the steaks over, a satisfied look on his face. After a bit longer of me standing there contemplating the effect Reid had on me, the steaks were done and we went inside to eat, sitting in the dining room at the large wooden table. In the fridge, were some left over mashed potatoes from his parents' dinner last night that we threw in the microwave to heat them up.

The food was great. The steaks were tender and I wondered where the hell Reid learned how to cook. It would definitely make things easier when we all went camping. Speaking of which.

"Hey, what do you think about a camping trip? Just the guys, me, Sarah, and Kate. We've always talked about it," I said before taking the last bite of my tasty steak.

Reid smiled. "Yeah, we did talk about it a lot. Sounds like a good idea to me. When do you want to go?"

I sipped from the glass of sprite I had. "In the next couple of weeks before it starts getting too cold."

He nodded. "Yeah, but I'm sure I could keep you warm."

If only he knew every time he kissed me that I was warmer than ever. "_Sure_ you could," I said rolling my eyes playfully and setting down my fork.

"Oh, you don't think I could, do you?" he asked, his eyes glinting as he grinned.

"Nope," I answered shaking my head, a smile on my lips.

"I think you'll be sorry about that." He was getting up now, his expression teasing, yet it was like he was stalking his prey.

"I don't think so." I pushed my chair back slowly and began getting up myself trying to keep eye contact while searching in my mind for the quickest way out.

"You're wrong about that one, baby." And then he ran around the table to get me.

I screamed and took off out of the dining room and out through the living room to get up the stairs. Reid was hot on my tail as I flung myself into his room. He took that opportunity to gently tackle me on his bed and pin me down with his body. By now, I could hardly stop laughing and then Reid started to chuckle, too.

When we calmed down a bit he looked down at me and smiled. "Truth or dare?" he asked.

I raised an eyebrow and there was still quite a bit of adrenaline rushing through me at that point from the chase. Normally I would have wondered where that question came from, but at the moment I figured what the hell?

"Dare."

"Kiss me right now. The way you _want_ to kiss me, not like you're being careful. It's just you and me here now. Kiss me," he replied in a husky voice, his blue gaze never waving for a second from mine. Lust burned in his eyes.

A rush of heat fled to my stomach and lower and my heartbeat sped up, fluttering even faster than it had been before. There was that desire again and it appeared that I wasn't the only one that was feeling it.

I hesitated for a short moment before reaching up to meet Reid's warm, inviting mouth with my own. There was nothing slow or soft about this kiss. It was incredibly hot and uninhibited and I realized that I really had been holding back before just because of the fact that things were new and other people were around or could be around. This time no one was going to interrupt or walk in on us because we were alone in Reid's empty house in his cozy little room.

The room was getting dark because the sun was going down. After all, it was probably around 8:00 and sort of cloudy now, but I could still see his eyes until I closed mine and lost myself in the kiss. This is what he had been asking for. All of our kisses before this one had been careful and I had been holding back for the sake of possibly being caught.

We had explored each other very little previously, but I knew at least something that Reid really liked. I ran my hands through his blonde hair and tugged lightly on the ends. Reid groaned in response just like I had predicted and pulled me closer to his body by my hips.

Our hips were flush against one another and his hands were running up and down my sides before they slid under my shirt. There was a throb at the meeting of our hips and I wasn't sure which of us it was emanating from. Reid's fingers grazed across the bottom of my bra and along the top of my breasts.

I moaned softly into his mouth and his hands retreated, grabbing onto the bottom of my shirt and tugging. He wanted it off? Well, so did I. Earlier at the dorms, I had changed into a simple white tank top, but kept my skirt on which was a lot easier to deal with than a button up blouse for school.

Breaking the kiss, I yanked my shirt over my head and tossed it off to the side. Where it went, I didn't care. And now, since we were being so demanding, I wanted his shirt off as well. Reid's blue eyes were on my chest which was no surprise to me, but I needed his attention back on what I wanted.

Pulling on his shirt, I looked up at him. "Off, now."

I didn't know where the demanding, domineering side of me came from, but Reid didn't seem to mind. He smirked and his eyes smoldered as he tore his shirt off and threw it behind him. Immediately our lips connected again. I moaned just from the added contact of our semi bare bodies touching. Skin against skin. It hadn't been the same in the pool. This was much more intense. And there was so much _heat_ between us now that it was almost overwhelming. Almost. My hands ran over his toned body trying to memorize every part of him that I could.

His mouth drifted from mine and I was a bit thankful because I found it harder and harder to breathe and my breath was coming in short gasps, but that was mostly from his mouth on my bare flesh. Reid nipped along my collarbone and down to the top of my breasts exposed from my black, lacy bra. His hands were again on my thighs and as things were picking up their pace, I found them on the rim of my skirt, unzipping it and pulling it down along my legs.

For some reason none of this bothered me and when Reid's lips left my skin so that he could pull back and take a good look at me, I barely blushed. Where ever this new found confidence had come from, I didn't mind it. Over me, Reid grinned and his eyes skimmed over my semi-nude body. I supposed that it was because of my black lace, cheeky panties, as well. Then they stopped and widened slightly.

"What is _this_?" he asked, pulling slightly on the corner of my underwear.

I looked down perplexed. "Huh? Oh," I said quietly.

Reid had found my tattoo. It was a tiny, white rose sticking through a heart that I had gotten out in Italy. I guess my swimsuit hadn't ridden as low as my panties and so Reid hadn't seen it before. I needed to get it small and in a place it wouldn't show because my parents would have freaked out and never let me leave the house ever. So I figured that an inch or two in from my hipbone would have been a good place to get it where no one would see it… except maybe Reid now.

"A tattoo?" he asked, his eyes meeting mine and burning with a new bout of lust. When I nodded in reply, he grinned, a slow, sexy grin. "That's very sexy and naughty of you, Roxanne."

I smirked. I liked making Reid hot and bothered like that. It made me fell kind of powerful, not to mention lusty myself. I couldn't help being so attracted to Reid. I didn't remember any past boyfriend of mine being able to get me this turned on. _Ever_.

Our gazes only lasted a few more electric moments until Reid pulled my face back to his in another searing kiss that left me absolutely breathless right away. I yanked on the waist band of his pants. He chuckled lightly against my lips as I groaned in frustration when I tried to get his zipper down and it didn't work quickly enough.

Where did this new person come from that was practically stripping my boyfriend of his clothing. I guess I didn't mind. It wasn't like I hadn't seen Reid in his boxers before, so it didn't bother me when he kicked them off of his legs. Now even more bare skin was touching and it was driving me crazy. We broke apart for a brief moment and I took this opportunity to kiss that hard chest of his.

Even his skin tasted delicious and I found my tongue flicking out and over the flesh of his left pectoral, earning a pleased groan from Reid as his hands slid up my thighs to cup my butt. He squeezed and I gasped lightly arching into his hips and away from his hands, finding my mouth soon invaded by his again.

Something hard was pressing between my legs and I figured I knew what it was. It made me have to catch my breath into the kiss at the reaction of my own body in response to that. My hands lingered over his abs and ran along the waistband of his boxers just teasing him really because now that I knew how turned on _he_ really was, I felt good about it. I felt his lips twitch in the kiss just before our tongues touched once again.

His lips parted from mine once more and he took the chance to kiss my neck, searching for my sweet spot. One of Reid's hands slid along my hip to trace along the line of my panties and my breathing picked up it's pace again. And just as a finger looped through the strap to pull them down slowly, my thoughts kicked into a high gear about just where this was going. Worry started to eat at me.

"_Reid_," I said, my voice sounding breathy.

He hummed against my skin making an involuntary, pleasured shiver slither down my spine.

"We have to stop." I tried to sound like I wasn't seconds away from tearing the remained of our clothes off and doing things to him that I had only imagined in my dreams. "I haven't— We can't—"

Reid sighed and I was cut off by his lips touching mine softly, all heat simmering down. "Shh, calm down, Roxi." His fingertips danced across my skin as they moved around my waist. He kissed my cheek.

"I'm sorry," I said quietly. I felt remorse for stopping us, but I wasn't quite ready yet.

"For what, baby?" he asked rolling us onto our sides and nuzzling his face into the crook of my neck, breathing deeply.

"I _want_ you, I really do, but," I began, "I'm not ready yet." I swallowed, biting my lip in anticipation of his response.

"You're a virgin aren't you?" he asked softly in my ear before pressing his lips to it.

I blushed, all traces of that lust-filled girl from before gone. "Yeah." I whispered it like that was going to change things. It didn't.

I wanted us to be madly in love when we finally had sex, but right now we were just two young adults completely close with each other and there was a sense of love and protection. It wasn't enough. I wanted us to be _in_ love. Deeply in love with each other. We weren't there yet and I wasn't sure that even if we were, I wouldn't be a little nervous to be that open with someone.

"I figured as much," he replied. Reid pulled back to look at me, one of his hands coming up to cup my cheek. "That's not necessarily a bad thing, babe. At least I know, I'll get to you first before somebody else does."

I smiled and playfully hit his arm. "Reid!"

"What? I'm serious. If somebody is gonna pop your cherry, I want it to be me."

"Wow, you just put it so romantically," I said flatly, rolling my eyes.

Reid held my face so I was looking directly into his blue orbs. "I want to be your first. Maybe your last. But I _want_ you, Roxanne Danvers and I'll do whatever it takes for you to be ready, even if that means waiting."

He was serious; his expression, his tone, everything about him was somber. I was taken back, but relieved and pleased about what he had said. He had sounded... _dedicated_.

I kissed him and smiled. "Thank you for respecting that."

"Hey, didn't I tell you before? It's all part of my job description as your boyfriend. I'd never force you into anything anyway, you know that," he said kissing my forehead.

"I know," I whispered, curling up closer to him.

Reid turned the upper half of his body around and sighed before turning back to me. "It's almost nine o'clock and a school night, but I say to hell with that shit. Wanna watch a movie?" He grinned.

I nodded. "Yeah, what are you suggesting?"

"Comedy. Maybe a spoof. How do you feel about Scary Movie?" he asked letting me go and rolling over and off of the bed to stand up, going over to flip the light on.

I noticed the bulge that had been present in his boxers earlier was no longer visible and I wondered if I had killed it when I was freaked out and asked him to stop. I hoped that I didn't always have that effect on him; the killing of the mood part, I mean.

"Great," I answered, cuddling into his pillows on his king-sized bed wishing it was Reid I was snuggling into instead.

"Do you want something to sleep in? Your bags are all downstairs."

I looked down at my lingerie clad body. "Maybe a shirt?"

"Sure thing." He rummaged around in a dresser drawer for a moment before pulling out a large white T-shirt before tossing it to me.

"Thank you!" I said happily.

He walked to his shelf by his giant TV and pulled out a DVD case, opening it and the DVD player mounted on the wall. While he attention was directed else wear I unclipped my bra and dropped it onto the floor. Then I pulled the large T-shirt over my head. It was big enough to reach just a bit past my waist and it was really comfy.

After setting things up and grabbed the remote and threw himself down on the bed next to me, bouncing us both.

I smiled as his arms came around me from behind to pull me close to him, I placed my arms over his and laced my fingers with both of his hands.

"I'm really glad you're staying here with me, baby," he said placing a chaste kiss on my neck as Carmen Electra grabbed a banana and ran outside on screen.

"Me, too, Reid." I cuddled more against him, getting comfortable. "Right now I probably would have been reading Harry Potter or something. Maybe watching TV."

Reid snorted behind me. "Ugh, _that _guy again. Come on, Roxi," he replied playfully, although there was an underlying irritation. He still hated him. A completely fictional character and he hated him.

"Yep, aren't you glad you're here to entertain me instead of him?" I asked grinning.

"I still don't know why you're so amused by him."

"You're kind of cute when you're harmlessly jealous like this."

"Oh, well, I'm glad my jealousy amuses you then," he said sarcastically.

I turned my head and kissed him. Then I settled back down on the pillow. Reid's head was nuzzled into my neck, just listening to the movie.

Two of the main characters were having a comical, frisky scene before the girl told her boyfriend they had to stop and his hand got shocked by her electrical fence of a chastity belt.

"That sounds like us," I mumbled.

"Nah, we're definitely better looking and this is real," Reid answered, giving my neck another gentle kiss.

And he was right. This all was _very_ real and I couldn't have been more pleased about it.

"Oh and by the way," he began, his lips moving against my neck, "I made sure that this place was spider free, just for you."

I beamed. "Thank you, babe."

These next few days were going to be incredible.


	12. Fights

**Disclaimer_: I do not own the concept or characters from the movie, "The Covenant." Any other characters not related to the movie, are mine and are NOT to be used in any other fan fictions. I also don't own any other things you recognize._**

**Author Note: **_Hey guys, here's chapter 12. It's kind of a filler because there's going to be a lot going on in the next chapter or so. I hope to update again in the next fews days :) I hope you all enjoy!_

_**Please don't forget to review!** __Thank you for reading and **thanks so much to my loyal readers and reviewers **I really appreciate it! You guys are awesome! Enjoy! -IB_

* * *

_The room was dark and I wasn't alone. My ice cream covered boyfriend lay on the bed next to me, a smirk on his face. He was deliciously covered and I was ready to lick the creamy vanilla treat off of every inch of his lean body. That was truly dessert at its best._

"_Roxi," he said softly in the dark._

"_Hmm?" I responded lowering my mouth to his chest, my tongue flicked out to lick a line of the ice cream off of his chest._

"_Roxi?" he asked louder._

"_What?" I answered licking some more off of him before kissing him until I was out of breath._

"Roxi!"

I realized that I was being shaken awake and my eyes popped open to see Reid clean of ice cream, leaning over me looking worried. Was I really having that dream again? Good God, I had to get a handle on my hormones.

"Huh? What's wrong," I asked groggily, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

"You tell me. I thought you were talking to me. You kept calling my name." He brushed some hair from my face.

I blushed and raised an eyebrow. "I did?" I asked innocently.

"Yeah. Were you having some kind of dirty dream about me or what?" Reid was smirking now, although there was an underlying concern; I could see him in the light of dawn.

"Maybe, but you'll never know," I answered smiling. "What time is it?"

He turned his head slightly. "5:54. Alarm's gonna go off soon. At least it's Friday, baby." He gently laid back down, half of his body on mine as he nuzzled his face into my hair and neck.

I sighed in content. "Yeah."

School tomorrow had been uneventful besides the fact that all eyes were on Reid and I when we showed up in the morning together in Reid's car. It was probably a bunch of snobby kids talking shit about us. Girls were giving me nasty looks in the hallway and gym locker room, so I was still sticking with that idea. When I told Reid he just kept telling me that they were jealous of me because I was so beautiful and just to ignore them if they got bitchy.

That was sweet of him, but not something I was going to follow. They weren't jealous of me because of my looks; they were pissy because I was talking their blonde, Sex God away from them.

Well, that was too fucking bad, wasn't it? Reid was mine and I wasn't planning on sharing. After all, I was an only child and sharing wasn't one of my strong points.

Apparently it wasn't one of Pogue's strong points either because he and Kate had gotten into a big fight last night about Chase and her spending so much time together. She called me after dinner and told me about it and I gave her the only advice that I could. To let each other cool off before speaking again. She was pissed at him because he was being "a jealous idiot" as she put it to me on the phone, and he was mad because Chase was moving in on his territory.

"_Why are they so territorial like that? We're not property," she ranted._

"_I know. Reid nearly shot lasers out of his eyes at Ryan Bael yesterday when he had to switch seats with him and sit by me," I told her, rolling my eyes at the memory._

_Laughter came from the other line. "You're kidding!"_

"_Wish I was, but that's just how they are some time. I'm sure if Pogue started hanging out with some other girl, you wouldn't be too happy about it, right?" I asked._

"_I guess not, but it just really annoys me that he thinks he can delegate who I can and cannot hang out with," Kate said with a frustrated sigh._

"_I know, you guys just need some time to cool off before you talk again. That way you guys won't say anything you'll regret."_

"_Yeah, you're right. He keeps calling, but I've been letting it go to voicemail. I'm not gonna talk to him until he stops being an idiot."_

Well, she had sort of gotten what I had said. Not entirely, but I guess it was as good as I was going to be able to do for her. If I knew Pogue, he trusted Kate, but not Chase. If Reid were hanging out with some other girl I would immediately hate her or be suspicious that she'd be trying to throw herself at my boyfriend the entire time they were together.

I could see where Pogue was coming from. Maybe he'd handled it wrong, but I could see why he'd be uptight about them hanging out. I think it was different for the four guys and us girls to hang out with each other because we were all so close that no one was really a threat to anyone's girlfriend or boyfriend. I could hang out with Pogue or Tyler and I don't think that Reid would really be so worried. Now, if I was going to be hanging out with Ryan Bael, that was a different story.

"What are you thinking about?" Reid asked softly in my ear. He was rubbing my arm with his hand as his own arm was draped across my midsection.

"Nothing, just the last couple of days."

He kissed my cheek. "Yeah, it's been an interesting few days. What do you want to do tonight?"

The alarm went off noisily next to Reid and he groaned, rolling over to slap it with his hand.

"I don't know," I answered. "I kind of just want to hang around here. Is that okay with you?"

Reid sat up and shrugged. "Whatever you want to do, babe, is cool with me."

I smiled stretching before sitting up and kissing his neck where I could get to him easiest. Then I yawned and looked around for my socks. I had kicked them off in the middle of the night. I spotted them at the end of the bed and leaned forward to grab them and put them on. My feet were always cold in the morning.

"So were you really have a dirty dream about me?" he asked as he got up to get his clothes from the nearby dresser. I had taken my clothes out of my duffel bags last night after school and Reid had given me my own two drawers in his dresser.

"I'll never tell," I told him with a wink. I closed my eyes and stretched again only to open them and see Reid's face inches from mine. "Can I help you?"

He grinned and pressed his lips to mine. I nearly lost myself in such a sweet kiss so early in the morning, especially after I just had that same tasty dream about Reid, but if we stayed in bed any longer, we'd be late for school.

I broke the kiss and smiled. "Shower?"

He grinned widely. "Are you asking to take a shower with me?"

My cheeks warmed and I shook my head. "No, I was asking if you wanted to get in the shower first, but nice try."

He chuckled. "Yeah, I guess. Are you sure you don't want to join me?"

"Positive, now get in there. I'll get breakfast. Breakfast sausage and scrambled eggs?" I asked kissing his cheek and getting up from the bed.

I was still only in the shirt that I had borrowed from Reid on Wednesday. I had decided on not wearing my own clothes to sleep in. Reid's stuff smelled better than my clothes with their soap smell and I somehow felt closer to him wearing his clothes and smelling his scent all night from his shirt and his warm body next to mine.

"Sure, Roxi. You really don't have to do that. I could make something when I get out of the shower."

"Nope, it's okay. It'll give me something to do and help me to wake up." I began walking to the door when I heard a low whistle behind me. Turning around, I raised my eyebrows. "What?"

"Have I mentioned yet that your ass looks pretty damn great in those little, red panties of yours?" A smirk was on his face and he was staring straight at my ass.

I glanced down to see my red, cheeky underwear peaking out from under Reid's shirt. It stopped at about the middle of my butt. "No, but uh, thanks," I said blushing lightly and exiting the room as I heard him chuckle.

Thing was, I could have taken a shower in one of their four bathrooms, but I just felt more comfortable taking a shower in Reid's bathroom. And just in case I forgot anything, everything of mine was right in the next room.

The rest of the house wasn't too cold, but it was a bit chilly. Peeking out the window as I passed the front of the house, I saw that it was rainy again. Turning on the stereo that was set next to the giant TV in the living room, I cranked it up to a rock station. Then I walked into the kitchen, opened the fridge, and got out the carton of eggs and breakfast sausages that I saw in there yesterday.

We had about an hour and a half here until we had to leave to get to Spenser. School started at bright and early 8 o'clock.

Cracking four eggs in a dish I beat the eggs with a fork, the only way I knew how, and put a pan on the futuristic looking stove. Slapping a bit of butter into the pan, I poured the scrambled eggs into it, hearing a slight sizzle. It didn't overpower the music though and when the Beastie Boys' "Fight for Your Right" came on, I began singing along and dancing in the kitchen as I cooked breakfast. In another pan, I dropped six sausage links into the pan with just a bit of water to get them going.

By now, I was getting hungry and the food smelled so good. My stomach actually started to grumble a little bit, but I didn't stop me from dancing as the food cooked. I swayed my hips to the music until I felt like someone was watching me.

Turning around, I promptly found why exactly I was feeling like that. There was Reid, his hair still wet from his shower, uniform on minus the jacket, leaning up against the doorway, a perverted grin etched on his face.

He put his hands up defensively. "Hey, don't stop on my account."

I rolled my eyes and snorted. "Yeah, right. The eggs are almost done." I flipped part of them over, before stabbing at them to break them up with a nearby spatula. I felt arms go around me.

"Don't worry about it. I can take it from here," he said, his lips against my neck, placing a soft kiss there. "Why don't you go up and take a shower and by the time you're out, everything will be done."

I sighed, turning around in his arms and kissing him quickly. "Thank you. I'll be back down soon."

Reid took the spatula from me with a smile. "Don't worry about it, baby."

With a smile on my face, I jogged upstairs, grabbed some clean undergarments and a fresh uniform before heading into the bathroom to shower. The shower was so relaxing that I nearly fell asleep during it, it must have been from the past two late nights we had just staying up and watching TV.

Reid had swim practice again like usual. Next week was their first meet of the year, so I was going to be dealing with his swim practice after school a lot. I didn't mind and I would have gone to them to support the boys, but the coach didn't appreciate us women being there and "distracting his team", or so he tried to put it nicely.

I didn't especially appreciate him for saying that, but Reid said not to worry about it.

I put my clean uniform on after drying my hair partially. It was going to get wet in the rain anyway, so what the hell was the difference. I threw on another pair of socks and my black flats. I picked my jacket up off of the dresser and brought it downstairs with me. The smell of breakfast wafted towards me and my stomach growled again, making itself known.

Rounding the corner of the kitchen I saw that Reid was already seated at the island eating the food in front of him as another covered plate sat directly across from him.

"I made you a plate. How was your shower? Thinking about me while you're in there?" he asked a dirty grin on his face already.

"You wish," I said picking up a fork and lifting the lid off of my plate to the lovely aroma of freshly cook breakfast.

He sighed. "That I do."

I snorted, but decided not to comment.

Reid set his fork down, finished. "So what do you want to do around here?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. Do you guys still have that pool table downstairs?"

He grinned. "Yeah, why you want to play me tonight?"

I nodded. "And this way, there won't be a douchebag Aaron to interrupt our game."

"You're right about that."

* * *

At school, I had dealt with lots of glares and dirty looks in the hallway from girls left and right. I tried not to let it bother me, but I was seriously getting pissed by the second. Now, I'm not big on fighting, but I've had my fair share of verbal altercations and once when I was younger, I punched Aaron in the face for trying to kiss me. It wasn't a very good punch, but I had taken up kickboxing in Chicago to keep my mind off of things back here.

I met this one girl that I felt comfortable enough with to confide in about my lovesick problems here in Ipswich, so it made her a fun sparing partner. Her name was Emily and she had recently moved from California. She lived in my neighborhood and sort of reminded me of Tyler in her shy, but understanding ways. She also had a bit of a Pogue side to her whenever we were kickboxing; she was a bit of an adrenaline junkie at times.

I figured that since I was a lot more trained in that sort of thing, I could probably kick some serious ass. Okay, maybe not serious, but I could mostly inflict some damage and I wouldn't mind inflicting damage on any of those girls. They were getting on my nerves and I wondered if Reid had _dated_ any girls ever. I knew that he always had girls around him, since he was sixteen at least.

As I walked through the halls to gym class, I realized that before I had left, Reid never once had a girlfriend. Or at least he never had a serious one. There was Monica, the blonde bimbo that Reid was into when we were sixteen. Needless to say, he ended up breaking it off with her after the first week or so. He said she was too dumb for him to which Pogue probably made some smart ass remark about.

After Monica, it was mostly just flings and one night stands for Reid. Like I said, he was the biggest flirt I knew, and if that had been a class in high school, Reid would have been an honor student because that's the majority of what he did when he was there.

I pushed the door open to hear the loud voices and banging of lockers in the girls locker room. We supposed to be running today or something. One of my least favorite things. I mean, I didn't mind running, if I was doing it on my own, not in gym class. I just didn't like P.E. period. Opening the lock on my locker, I rummaged through it to find my shorts. Sarah soon showed up, her locker right across from mine in the bay.

I dropped my skirt and began pulling on my shorts after kicking off my flats when some redheaded girl bumped into me and sent me falling back into the lockers.

"What the hell?" I said annoyed, glaring at the girl who obviously, deliberately knocked me over.

"Oh, oops. I guess you should get used to getting knocked into things when you're getting rammed into by Reid Garwin," she replied in a bitchy tone.

I was fuming. Across from me Sarah was glaring at the girl. "What the fuck is your problem?" I asked tossing my shorts to the ground and getting ready to beat the hell out of her. I was ready to snap after all the shit talking I had been hearing around school in the past couple of days. It was ridiculous.

Her body language said it all. She didn't like me just because I was dating Reid? Are you kidding me? There couldn't be any other reason for it, since I had only been nothing, but nice to mostly everyone; the exceptions being Aaron and Kira.

"I don't have any problems, but you will." Her eyes were narrowed and there was a mean smirk on her face. Oh, did she think she was being witty? What a bitch.

"Are you threatening me?" I asked stepping forward. By now, all eyes were on us in the locker room and had gone silent. They were wondering if we were going to fight. I was ready to sock her right in the face, so it could happen any moment.

"No, I'm promising you, bitch."

"What's going on here, girls?" Ah, shit, it was our P.E. teacher, Ms. Brown.

"Nothing," I spat, my eyes still on the redhead waiting for her to make a move. She didn't. Instead she flipped her hair over her shoulder and practically stomped off.

"Get dressed or you'll all stay after class!" Ms. Brown barked out and left with her clipboard.

Sarah looked at me when I met her eyes after picking up my shorts. "What a bitch," she said lowly rolling her eyes.

"No kidding."

"I thought you were going to kill her. I've never seen you look so mad."

I sighed, trying to release some of my anger. Maybe it would be good for me to run today. I could blow off a bit of steam that way. What I really needed was a punching bag and a second ago I was ready to use that girl as a substitution.

"Yeah, well, I'm just tired of the bullshit," I replied beginning to change into my gym uniform. I swear, everything was a damn uniform in this school. They didn't want any originality whatsoever.

Sarah frowned. "I got a lot of crap from Kira when Caleb and I first got together," she told me.

I nodded to signal that I heard her. "Kira gives everybody shit. It's just her way of life. It's her only defense like when llamas spit."

She laughed, putting her hand over her mouth to stop herself, but it made me smile and soon I was laughing along with her. And this is why I loved my friends. The rest of class was uneventful and when Reid and I met two hours later in study hall with Tyler, they told me that Caleb, while racing Chase in the pool, had ran into the side.

"Oh my God, is he alright?" I asked, standing up from my seat in the library.

"Yeah, babe, he's fine. Chase got him out before he really got hurt," Reid said, taking my hand and pulling me to sit back down.

I sighed in relief. "Thank God. Sounds like a crazy day for everyone in gym today."

Tyler furrowed his eyebrows looking confused. "What do you mean?"

I ran a hand through my hair sheepishly. "I got into a fight today."

Reid leaned forward on the table, eagerly. "A fight? Did you beat her ass?"

I shook my head. "It didn't get that far. Brown came and broke it up before then, but I was this close to punching her out," I said pinching the air to show how close I had come to_ really _fighting her.

Tyler looked worried. "What was it about?"

"Reid," I replied flatly.

"You're kidding."

"Nope," I said popping the "p".

"Shit," was all Reid could muster up to say, I guessed.

"Yeah, it was no big deal. Just annoying, but it was nothing. I could have taken her." I shrugged.

"I'm sure you could have, but still. I can't believe it. "

"Sooner or later, they're going to have to accept that we're together. It only bothered me a little at first, but I think I just sort of snapped in the locker room," I admitted.

Reid's eyes looked distant.

"What?" I asked.

He snapped back into focus. "Just imagining you and some girl fighting half naked in the locker room," he replied grinning.

"Reid," I said exasperated. Tyler only chuckled and went back to working on his homework.

"So what are you doing tonight, Ty?" I asked curiously as I pulled a notebook out of my bag. I was hoping for my English notes so that I would start to work on answering some stupid discussion questions on _Hamlet_, but I ended up with my math notes. Searching in my bag, I heard Tyler sigh.

I stopped what I was doing and looked up. "What?"

"Well, I have dinner with my parents again tonight. They're wondering why I don't have a girlfriend," he rolled his eyes looking frustrated. "They sort of won't give it a rest, so they're having my dad's friend Tom's daughter over like a blind date, so we can 'get to know each other'," he finished using air quotes.

I set my bag down on the floor, forgetting my notebook. "Well, maybe it won't be so bad."

"Yeah, dude, she could be really hot," Reid added.

I shook my head at his comment. He was _such_ a male sometimes. "Er, yeah, but you might really end up having a nice time. What's her name?"

"Bree or something. I don't know. I just wish they didn't set me up like that. It's embarrassing," he said, leaning forward and resting his head on the table.

I frowned, placing my hand on his arm. Tyler was always more of the sensitive of the Sons. It was just his nature to be compassionate and shy and he got embarrassed pretty easily. I felt bad for him, because I knew that if my parents had done that, I would have been royally pissed. It wasn't like Tyler was bad looking or had problems with girls wanting to talk to him, it was just that he was shy and sometimes if they didn't speak to him first, it was a lost cause.

"Baby Boy, your problems could be much worse. You could be dating Roxanne here and have Caleb plotting to kill you behind your back," Reid said casually.

"Hey!" I said offended before scoffing. "Caleb is _not_ trying to kill you. He's fine with us being together." Okay, that wasn't_ entirely_ true. He hadn't really liked the idea of me staying at Reid's where he could easily corrupt me or something.

He snorted. "Oh, really? Well, you obviously didn't see the way he's been looking at me ever since you've been staying at my house."

"How's he been looking at you?" I asked.

"Like he wants to kill me," he replied flatly.

"I think you're exaggerating that just a bit."

"Yeah, okay, babe."

Next to me, Tyler's whole body started shaking and then I heard him laughing as he looked up and shook his head at us.

"Are you loosing it, Ty?" Reid asked cautiously.

"No, you guys are just funny now that you're dating."

"Gee, thanks. I'm glad we're here to amuse you," I said fighting a grin.

I really was happy that at least Tyler didn't look so down anymore. He'd find a girl for him; his parents really didn't need to push. He was just a shy kid. Way to kill his confidence by setting him up on a date like he wasn't capable of getting his own.

"Reid and I are going to stay in tonight and play pool if you want to join us when you're done." I looked over at Reid who just shrugged like he didn't care if I invited him.

Tyler smiled. "Thanks, Rox. I'm sure they won't let me high tail it out of there right away, but maybe later I'll stop by. I'll call first though, so you know, you guys are uh, decent," he said looking around for a moment like he was uncomfortable.

I felt my cheeks get hot. "Oh my God, Tyler," I said. Now _I_ was the one who was embarrassed.

"I'm only teasing you, Roxi," he said smiling.

"Yeah, well, keep it to a minimum with those jokes," I said thinking about what the redhead said in the locker room. They all thought I was sleeping with Reid and I didn't need any more rumors going around.

"Especially around Caleb, or he'll _really_ try to kill me."

I rolled my eyes and threw my hands in the air dramatically. "Oh, here we go again."


	13. Trouble

**Disclaimer_: I do not own the concept or characters from the movie, "The Covenant." Any other characters not related to the movie, are mine and are NOT to be used in any other fan fictions. I also don't own any other things you recognize. _**

**Author Note: **_Hey, here's chapter 13. It's a bit shorter than I was hoping for, but here it is. I hope to update again soon, but I'm starting college tomorrow, so I can't make any guarantees as to how soon the next update will be, but I'll do my best! :) I hope you all enjoy!_

_**Please don't forget to review!** __Thank you for reading and **thanks so much to my loyal readers and reviewers **I really appreciate it! You guys are awesome! Enjoy! -IB_

* * *

The bell rang for the end of Study Hall and Reid, Tyler, and I got up with our things to leave. I thought I would walk Reid to his swim practice where I would meet Sarah. She wanted to go shopping for a dress; we planned it during gym class. Kate said she was kind of tired, so she didn't feel like going with us. I tried to tell her that she should go just to get her mind off of her and Pogue right now, but she refused. Reid hadn't exactly asked me to go with him to the Fall Fest and I wasn't really sure if he even wanted to go. Sure we were dating and all, but I still wanted him to ask me.

When we reached the boys' locker room, Tyler waved a good-bye and left Reid and me by ourselves.

"You gonna go hang out in the girls' dorm room?" he asked.

I shook my head. "No, Sarah wants to go dress shopping for the dance tomorrow."

His face dropped. "Oh shit, that's tomorrow, isn't it? Sorry, baby, do you want to go?"

"Do _you_ want to go?" I asked.

He nodded, stepping closer to me. "Yeah, I want to go, if you want to go, Roxi."

"Sure," I said quietly. Not exactly the way I was hoping for him to ask, but at least it was something and besides, it wasn't like it was Prom or anything like that.

"Listen," he began, putting his hands on my shoulders and looking into my eyes. "I want to go and I want you to go with me. Would you be my date, babe?"

I smiled and nodded. It took him long enough. "Yes."

He smiled back and pulled me in for a kiss. "Sorry, it took me so long. I sort of forgot about it. I meant to ask you earlier in the week, but I just got distracted a lot."

I returned the kiss pulling him in for a hug as I asked, "By what?"

"You. You have no idea how distracting you can be. Sometimes without even trying."

I laughed. "Sorry."

"Hey, lover boy, you gonna hang out in the hall all day or what?" Pogue asked as he walked past us and into the locker room. "Hey, Roxi."

We pulled away from each other. "See? Distracting," he told me with a grin. He kissed my cheek and walked into the locker room and I departed, seeing Sarah approaching.

"Sorry, I stopped by the library. Ready?" she asked.

I nodded and we started off towards the parking lot. "Yep. Do you care if we just go in our uniforms?"

She shook her head. "No, I don't really want to wake Kate up either since she's probably sleeping. I don't know if she's catching a cold or if she's really taking this whole thing with Pogue badly."

"I don't know," I said honestly. "Either one seems likely, I guess."

"Relationships are a pain sometimes, huh?"

"Yeah, but they have their moments," I replied thinking back to the good times that Reid and I had this week since we'd gotten together. I certainly couldn't complain.

* * *

In the very first store we went in, Sarah had found her dress and it was perfect on her. A gold silk gown, it was really pretty. Me; however, it took a little longer for. I must admit that I could be a bit picky when it came to finding something that I liked enough to buy.

By at least the third store I had made up my mind (which was good because there were only three stores we could have went to) and decided on a navy blue gown, silky in its own way that hugged my body close and showed a fair amount of skin. There was a deep V ending in the middle of my cleavage and the back was open, save for a few crisscrossed pieces of fabric, stopping a few inches above my butt. It was going to be tricky wearing a bra, but I thought I could use a completely strapless and backless bra that would stay on with special body tape.

I had a pair of strappy, black heels at the house, so we didn't have to go looking for shoes, plus by the time we were finished shopping, it was time for the boys to be done with swim practice. We pulled back into the parking lot, so that Sarah could drop me off before running a few more errands herself. She said that she wanted to pick up a few things and maybe grab some things for Kate to cheer her up and such. Reid was waiting for me by his car and I hugged Sarah good-bye and got out of her little car. I told her we could have picked up the stuff on the way back and that I didn't mind, but she insisted on getting me back in time.

I took my bagged dress and my purse, Reid opened my door and I put the bag in the backseat carefully so as not to wrinkle the gown inside.

"So'd you have fun?" he asked as we got into his car and he started it up.

I nodded. "Yeah, it was nice to go shopping with Sarah, even though I really don't like shopping, but now I'm starving."

He smiled. "Dinner it is then. Grilled chicken sound okay to you?"

"I had no clue you were such a cook, but you've certainly proved me wrong these last few nights."

"Yeah, well cooking meat isn't that hard. It's everything else that I have problems with," he said looking sheepish.

I grinned. "Still, it's a pretty attractive quality to have."

A smirk appeared on his face, replacing that embarrassed expression. "Glad you think so."

* * *

The chicken had been delicious and Reid had been so good lately that I didn't say anything when he nearly burned the chicken to a crisp due to some of my (intended) "distracting" and fixed it by using. Once the whole time I had been there, except for that night at Nicky's, wasn't so bad.

After dinner we had some leftover cherry pie and soda before heading downstairs to play pool. When we got home, I had hung my dress up in Reid's closet and told him he couldn't see it until tomorrow night. Then I changed into some tiny shorts and a tank top to get more comfortable.

It was pouring rain outside and the lights flickered once as I pocketed the eight ball. I wondered if we would lose the power to such a heavy downpour.

I grinned proudly at the clear table. It had been down to the eight ball for both of us and I just so happened to sink it before Reid did. "I win!"

Reid frowned before looking at the table like he wasn't sure how I had gotten to be so good.

"Magic," I answered to his silent question.

"Best two out of three," he said getting the triangle and beginning to rack up the balls again.

I scoffed jokingly. "You think you can beat me? Why even bother?"

"I let you win that time for your information," he said walking up to me and placing a hand on either side of the table, trapping me between him and the game of pool. He was smiling.

I snorted, a playful grin tugging at my lips. "You did not! And the student beat the teacher," I said poking him in the chest. It was Reid after all who taught me how to play, well enough to play with the big boys.

"Well, I always had a sort of teacher-student fantasy," he replied teasingly, grabbing my waist and lifting me up to sit on the table, keeping eye contact.

"Somehow that doesn't surprise me," I said lowly, my attention directed now to his lips that were oh so close to mine.

He grinned and pulled me to him connecting our lips smoothly. What started off as a sweet kiss, turned into heated passion within seconds. How we kept ending up like that was beyond me. My hands tangled in his hair before sliding down to sneak under his shirt. Just feeling his abs was a complete turn on for me. He wasn't totally ripped, but he was lean and defined enough that I felt breathless and incredibly hot all of a sudden even in as little clothing as I was actually wearing.

I tugged at the hem of his shirt and it was over his head in an instant, his lips back on mine. Reid's body was even warm as I ran my hands over it taking in as much as I could to memory. In my opinion, I didn't think that Reid should have ever been allowed to wear a shirt, at least not around me. His lips trailed down my cheek to my neck seeking out that one spot that sent shivers down my spine.

Reid's hands were practically everywhere; in my hair, on my waist, sliding down my back. He was driving me wild with anticipation and excitement and my lungs couldn't take in quite enough oxygen.

In the basement, the stereo down in the billiards' room was on softly. Some rock song was drifting through the room, but I couldn't make out the words or rather I couldn't focus long enough to identify it because Reid's search was finished and he had found it. I shivered and stifled a moan when he began sucking on the most sensitive part of my neck. Apparently I didn't do a very good job and he must have heard it because he chuckled before he bit the skin there lightly causing me to gasp.

I pulled back and his hands were on my tank top. He grinned. "Off," Reid said mimicking me from the other night.

"Gladly," I muttered as I practically tore the tank top off me, leaving me in my hot pink bra.

He grinned seeing it and traced his hands over the cups teasingly. If he was really amused by that, wait until he saw what I was wearing under my shorts.

I watched mesmerized at the sensation it gave me as he ran his hands down my body to my shorts. He pulled on the end of them with a look in his eye, signaling that he would have ripped them off of me if I had let him. I hopped down off the table and let him pull them down to my ankles.

I kicked them off my feet as Reid slowly stood back up, kissing up my legs to my stomach as he did. He paused at my panties, a wide grin spreading across his face as a blush spread across mine. I knew he'd like those. I didn't know if I secretly wore them in hopes that he would see or because they were fun to wear. I was thinking that my subconscious had different plans for me.

Reid's eyes darted from place to place just taking in the sight of my black and hot pink lace thong, a heart embroidered in tiny metal looking stars in the lower center like an arrow head. Thank you, Victoria's Secret for knowing exactly what my lusty boyfriend would find appealing. He brushed his thumb against my tattoo, which was clearly visible in the low-rise panties I was wearing. I swallowed and closed my eyes at the overpowering feeling I was getting, soon feeling his lips on mine again. With his hands on my hips, Reid lifted me back up onto the pool table without breaking the kiss.

I shoved the sweatpants that he was wearing from swim practice today down to the floor. I broke the kiss and moved back on the pool table, careful not to hit my head on the lamp hanging over it. Reid gaze burned into mine as he followed after me, his eyes flashing black as the lamp overhead dimmed so it wasn't blaring in our eyes. I licked my lips nervously, however when I did this my eyes had moved from his blue orbs to his body and I briefly remembered the dream that I kept having.

Lust flared through me when I returned my gaze to his and he placed his warm body over mine. His lips covered mine and I felt his tongue trace my bottom lip. Opening my mouth to give him access, I felt one of his hands teasing the skin at the waistband of my panties, sending delightful shivers throughout my being.

Suddenly, I felt pressure between my legs and realized that it wasn't like the other night. Reid's fingers pressed gently against me, the cloth of my panties the only barrier between his hand and the pulsing desire I was feeling. My head was spinning by now and I moaned into his mouth, arching slightly up into Reid.

Uh oh. This wasn't where things were supposed to be going tonight. I wasn't that girl, right? My mind went blank again as his hand brushed the inside of my thigh and he flipped us over so that I was on top. As he held my hips, I found with delicious realization that I was sitting directly on his hips, on top of the bulge now _very_ present. Things were moving way too fast as his hands slid down my hips and onto my bare ass. Without warning he squeezed the butt and in my surprise I shifted forward earning a deep growl-like groan from Reid. My heart pounded and heat flooded to my panties.

An annoying ring sounded from somewhere. It wasn't mine, I knew that for sure and at this point, I didn't think I would have cared anyway. It continued on until it finally stopped most likely going to voicemail. Stupid damn phone. It must have been Reid's that he shoved into the pocket of his sweatpants or something.

Neither one of us stopped what we were doing, one of Reid's hands going up to unclip my bra. The phone began ringing again. Son of a bitch! I was going to kill whoever was calling right now. Just answer the phone and reach through to strangle the person on the other line. We tried to ignore it again and Reid was working on my bra still when the cell phone stopped ringing and the house phone started instead. Reid and I broke our kiss and he sat up.

"Fuck," he hissed as the movement sent me moving against that hardness again. He closed his eyes and sighed. "Who the hell is calling?"

I sighed in frustration and I hadn't really noticed that I had so much sexual frustration until those dreams and the never ending amount of times that we had almost had sex already, despite that I felt I wasn't ready. I ran a hand through my hair and got off of Reid to hop down off the table. I grabbed his cell phone just as it was ringing and tossed it to him.

"What?" he barked as a greeting, his eyes narrowed and his breathing heavy. "This better be fucking end-of-the-world important or I'm hanging up."

I was still working on getting my uneven breathing under control, too. I sat down on the edge of the table noticing that my panties were practically soaked. I also noticed now as I snuck a glance over at Reid, how ever prominent the bulge in his boxers really was and it made me blush.

"How is that important enough to call me ten times?" Reid answered to whatever the person on the other line said. Poor Reid, every time we got close, someone stopped us. Last time it was me and now it was one of the boys I was guessing.

I raised an eyebrow. Was it Tyler? It had to have been one of the boys who called just by the way that Reid was speaking to them.

"Well, Caleb has pretty shitty timing then. Does he have a fucking radar or what?" he retorted moving to the end of the table and sending me an apologetically ticked off look. I knew he wasn't mad at me; it was obviously Caleb who he wasn't to fond of at the moment.

He listened intently for a few minutes, his expression changing from angry to confused. It had me worried. Something was wrong.

"Yeah, I'll be on my way soon I guess." Reid was silent for another moment. "Yeah, I will. Bye." He hung up and looked at me with a serious expression.

"I have to go," he told me. "Caleb wants the covenant to have a meeting. Pogue said I couldn't bring you, but it's something really urgent. Something about Chase. Just stay inside where you're safe."

I furrowed my eyebrows. "What do you mean?" I asked beginning to worry.

"Hey, you'll be fine here, I promise. It's probably just Caleb overreacting or something, you know how he gets," he replied walking over and kissing my forehead. Even though I wanted to believe him, something about the expression on his face gave it away that there was more to the story than he was letting on.

"Okay," I said quietly, taking in all the information.

"I'm really sorry that we got, you know, interrupted even though that wasn't supposed to happen when we're in an empty house," Reid said rolling his eyes. "Caleb sure knows how to kill the mood, doesn't he?"

His eyes flashed black and the light above the pool table came back on full blast. He gave me his hand and I took it as I got down off the pool table and grabbed my tank top and shorts. I pulled my shorts on so I'd feel a little more decent.

I looked back over to Reid to see him pulling his sweatpants back on and then his white T-shirt. He took my hand and we went upstairs shutting the lights off as we went. We went upstairs to the second floor to Reid's room where he changed out of his sweatpants and into a pair of dark blue jeans as I sat on his bed. Then he pulled on an orange hooded sweatshirt and another dark blue jacket. He grabbed the remote off of the dresser and handed it to me.

"Watch whatever you want, babe," Reid told me giving me a quick kiss. "Treat this place like it's your own, do whatever you want. I'll be back as soon as I can."

I nodded. "I'll be here. What if I find your dirty porn stash?"

He raised an eyebrow. "What makes you think I have one?"

I snorted. "Do you really have to ask?"

Reid grinned. "Oh, baby, you just know me so well. I'll be back." He kissed me again before heading out of the room. I flipped the TV on just as he peeked his head back in. "And for the record, I haven't watched those since I was sixteen."

"Just go," I said shaking my head and laughing at my loveable, yet humorous boyfriend.

I heard the front door close and I began flipping through channels. Finally, I settled on watching The Fast and the Furious which was halfway through on the TV, but it was something to watch.

I wondered how long Reid was going to be gone for. It was already 8:30, so it was pretty late for Caleb to be calling a meeting. It made me worry more than before. What was so important or bad about Chase Collins? Was that why I kept getting those weird vibes from him? But there couldn't be anything or anyone more powerful than the covenant right? Oh, God this was not good whatever _it_ was.

I just had a bad feeling all of a sudden. I sighed and pulled on the hoodie of Reid's that I'd kept since last Saturday. I brought it along with me in my bags. Then I crawled back on the Reid's bed and curled up under the covers. It felt so much colder without him here. To feel his warmth kept me nice and toasty in such a big house where it got a bit chilly at times.

It was around 8:50 when I started to feel watched. I looked around the room cautiously thinking that maybe Reid had snuck back in the house without me hearing him, but I didn't see him, nor did I hear anything. It was just a weird feeling that I couldn't shake and I desperately wished that Reid would hurry back. Maybe I was just psyching myself out, but I was so creeped out that the hairs on my arms were standing up and I had goosebumps. I took a shaky breath. I was just imagining things. Everything was fine.

The feeling slowly started to fade after a few minutes and I began to feel more relaxed. I couldn't deny that something or someone had been watching me, but I also couldn't prove it. If I told Reid he'd probably think I was loosing it and he'd tell me not to worry, that it was nothing.

Suddenly my phone rang and I jumped at the noise. It was Reid. "Hello?" I answered.

"Hi, baby, I'm almost home. Ten more minutes. There's a lot of stuff we have to talk about. Hang on, Caleb's calling," he said before the line went silent.

I waited patiently, but was so glad to hear his voice. It was such a relief, not to mention how comforting it was to hear the sound of it. I was also relieved to hear that he was almost back here. It would make me feel a hell of a lot safer if he were here.

After about a minute of silence, Reid came back on with a sigh. "Rox, you still there?"

"Yeah, what's going on?" I asked hearing the edge to his voice.

"Get ready, I'm coming to pick you up. Pogue was in an accident. I'll explain everything on the way there," he replied.

"Oh my God, is he okay?" I was on the verge of tears. Please, God, let him be alright.

"I don't know, baby. We'll see him at the hospital. Be there in five minutes."

I tossed the phone onto the bed and dropped my shorts. Digging in one of the drawers I found a pair of jeans and threw them on. I also grabbed a jacket since it was still drizzling out. It was super cold out today anyway. I turned off the TV, grabbed my purse and my phone, and ran down the stairs to wait by the door. As soon as I saw the headlights I ran outside, closing the door and locking it behind me.

Reid met me halfway in the light rain and pulled me to him tightly, burying his face in my hair. "I'm so glad you're alright. I was worried about you. Come on, everyone's gonna meet us at the hospital. Kate got admitted a little while ago, she's sick," he told me as he led me to the passenger side of the car. I got in and he went around to get in on the driver's side.

"Oh no, what with?" I asked frowning. It had to be bad if she was in the hospital. I wondered if she really was getting sick earlier after school. Poor Kate and poor Pogue.

"Spider bites. It's a spell," he said as he pulled out of the driveway and onto the road within seconds. He sped off towards the hospital.

"A spell? Who the hell put a spell on Kate?" I asked confused, dread eating away at my stomach. It couldn't possibly have been one of the boys right? They would never do anything so horrible, so who did?

Reid looked distressed and angry and his face darkened. It had to have been bad. Was this what they had a meeting about?

"Chase. He's one of us."


	14. Breaking Down

**Disclaimer_: I do not own the concept or characters from the movie, "The Covenant." Any other characters not related to the movie, are mine and are NOT to be used in any other fan fictions. I also don't own any other things you recognize. _**

**Author Note: **_Hey all, here's chapter 14. I apologize for such a late update, but college had been keeping me preoccupied. I'm hoping on updating again this week, near the end if not by the weekend :) I hope you all enjoy!_

_**Please don't forget to review!** __Thank you for reading and **thanks so much to my loyal readers and reviewers. **I really appreciate it! You guys are awesome! Enjoy! -IB_

* * *

I stopped breathing and just stared at Reid for a few minutes. I couldn't believe what I had just heard. How was that possible?

"What?" A simple question was all I was able to utter in my shock and even then my voice was almost a whisper.

"Yeah, Caleb and Pogue found out earlier tonight when they broke into the school to check out some records. I guess Caleb's been feeling somebody using in massive amounts for a while since Chase showed up. And then he used in the pool today, that's why Caleb ran into the side of the pool. He's also been sending Darklings to Caleb and Pogue," he told me in one long breath.

I started to shake my head. "But how? I thought the fifth family ended way back in Salem? Isn't that what The Book of Damnation said?"

Reid shook his head. "No, we missed some stuff. John Putnam came to Goody Pope in her dreams as an incubus, to uh, keep up their line I guess."

I blanched and made a disgusted noise.

"I know. Pretty gross, but Chase is one of us and he's bad news, Rox."

I nodded. "What can he… do that's different from you guys?" I asked after thinking over my question properly.

Reid shrugged. "I don't know. He's pretty powerful as far as we know, so I guess he can do just about anything. He'd have to be if we could feel it when he was using. It takes a lot of power to wake somebody up from their sleep."

I was silent for a moment, just thinking about the next question that I wanted to ask. "Do you think he can make himself invisible?" I asked carefully.

"Not sure. It's possible, I suppose. I've never seen it done," he replied casting me a sideways glance. "Why do you ask?"

I took a deep breath. "Well," I began hesitantly. Reid's eyes darted from the road to my face looking for a hint as to what I was about to say. He was obviously thinking the worst right now.

I looked away uncomfortably. "I kind of felt like I wasn't alone in your room."

Reid hit the brakes and pulled over to the side of the road, flipping his hazards and pulling up the parking brake. "What are you talking about?" he asked very seriously. I guessed that he was really interested in what I had to say.

"It was probably nothing," I said putting my hands up to calm him, but his body language was tense and he motioned for me to continue. "It was sort of like that feeling you get when somebody's watching you. You can just feel their eyes on you. You just feel like you're not alone. I could have just psyched myself out though because I was worried about what the meeting was about."

I was rambling now, nervous. I felt guilty for some reason. Like I was telling him that his house wasn't safe or that I let somebody into his house when he wasn't there. I don't know. There wasn't a reason at all for me to feel guilty.

Reid face hardened. "You think Chase was watching you when I was out?" he asked. His voice was laced with anger and maybe a hint of fear.

I nodded slowly. "Maybe. You said it was possible right?" I spoke quietly.

He looked angry for another moment before pulling me to him, as much as he could with our seatbelts restraining us. He sighed lightly. "Are you okay?"

I nodded. "I'm fine, just a little freaked."

His lips pressed to my forehead feather light. "I'll keep you safe, I swear. And I'll do whatever I can to keep that promise."

I managed a small smile. Hearing those words made me feel so much more protected and just being in his arms was like a security blanket.

"I know you will. I trust you." I kissed his cheek and he pulled away just looking at me for a moment.

"We have to get to the hospital. Tyler and Caleb are meeting us there. Caleb's getting Sarah first. We have to tell him about this," he said shifting the Chevelle into first gear, switching off his hazards, and pulling back onto the road.

"I will," I replied affirmatively.

A peaceful silence filled the car. We were both wrapped up in our own minds sorting through all of the hectic thoughts and new information there. I wondered if I was in any way in danger. What would Chase want with _me_? It briefly crossed my mind that he may have put a spell on Kate to upset us all, or mostly the Covenant; mostly Pogue. Poor Pogue and now he was in the Gloucester Medical Center.

We drove for several more minutes before I could see the building from the road. In reality it should have taken us a lot longer to get there, but with the way Reid drove, we managed it in thirteen minutes. And then I thought about how unlucky that number was. I was beginning to wonder if I was losing my mind. I had to keep it together, especially if I was going to go in and see Pogue. Upsetting him after such an accident would be detrimental to the state he was in right now.

Reid parked and gave me a long, soulful look before he got out of the car and came around to my side to meet me. I quickly got out, stepping into a puddle and frowning. I took Reid's outstretched hand and we set off to the automatic hospital doors. After a nurse kindly pointed us in the direction of the intensive care unit that Pogue was being kept in, made our way to the door of his room and that was when I began to panic. Intensive care? How bad off was he?

Reid kissed the side of my head as we entered the door to see Tyler already there in a zip up orange sweatshirt. His expression was sad and pensive as he stared through the glass room that Pogue was in. He looked up at the sound of the door and gave us a weak smile. Reid took his jacket and hoodie off and tossed them on a nearby chair in the small private waiting room leaving him in his grayish white shirt. It was warm in the hospital, but I was still feeling the chill of the cool weather outside.

"How's he doing?" Reid asked as we came to stand next to Ty.

My eyes wandered from the room and Ty's face to Pogue's still form in the other room just beyond the glass. The only thing signifying he was living was the short rise and fall of his chest.

Next to me, Tyler shrugged. "I don't know. He doesn't look very good. They say he'll pull through, but shit. Chase really did a number on him."

The frown I had been wearing since the puddle I stepped in deepened.

"Caleb get here yet?"

Tyler shook his head. "Not yet."

My eyes darted all across Pogue's body, seeing cuts and scrapes on his hands, wrists, and face. He looked battered and there were a lot of tubes and IVs coming out of him. I felt helpless that I couldn't do anything while Kate and Pogue were suffering and hurt. It absolutely killed me inside. The door opened a moment later and Caleb entered the room.

"How's he doing?" he asked, his eyes landing on each of us before settling on me. He looked weary and tired. I must have shown something in my face because he walked forward, placed his hand on the side of my head, and kissed my forehead. "Don't be upset. He'll be fine. Pogue's tough, he'll be fine soon enough."

I nodded my head. Beside me Reid squeezed my hand. I didn't want this attention or sympathy and although I was upset over the fact that two of my friends were in the hospital, the focus belonged on them, not me.

"Have you been in to see him yet?" Caleb asked us.

We shook our heads. "No," I answered.

He nodded and walked into the glass room going in through the sliding doors. Briefly, a soft beep could be heard from a monitor inside.

"You look really shaken up, Rox. Are you alright?" Tyler asked concerned as his brows furrowed.

I nodded slowly. "Just, the whole Chase thing, you know? I guess I'm still in shock," I replied.

"Chase was watching her when I was out," Reid said lowly, anger lacing his words.

Tyler's face turned to surprise. "What? Are you sure?"

I shook my head. "Not entirely, but—"

"It had to be him. It all seems like too much of a coincidence," Reid interrupted.

The sliding doors opened again and Caleb stepped out looking worn down. "He's hurt pretty bad." Then he paused. "There's something I need to talk to you guys about."

My heart thudded frighteningly hard in my chest. What could possibly go wrong now?

"Chase was at Sarah's dorm room when I got there. He disguised himself as me to get in and knocked Sarah out while he tried to strike a deal with me. He wants me to will him my power. He's strong and he's threatening all of your lives if I don't do it."

My heart dropped to my stomach and dread swept over me like a tidal wave. This couldn't be happening. Wasn't attacking Pogue and Kate enough for him? Why was he even doing this? Caleb would die if he willed away his power. The power would be his life once he ascended. His only life source and Chase was trying to take it away. I was mad beyond belief and I was terrified more than anything.

"You can't be serious," Reid said, he sounded even angrier than before.

"He's using Sarah as another agreement. He'll put a spell on her just like Kate, if not kill her."

"Yeah, well we have another problem."

Caleb looked confused. "What?"

"Chase was watching Roxanne when we were at the meeting. She said she felt eyes on her like somebody else was in the room. It had to have been him," Reid replied pausing quickly before something sparked in him. "I'd even bet that he was in the showers that night after that party in the Dells. Sarah was freaked out because she thought someone was watching her in the showers, but when I looked around there wasn't anybody there."

I wanted to ask him what he was doing in the showers with Sarah, but right now none of any of that mattered. For all I knew I was taking it completely out of context, not to mention that there were far more important things to worry about right now.

Caleb's eyes fell on me and I saw his face harden. "I'll figure this all out. Nobody needs to worry. He wants me and as long as I keep up my end of the bargain, he'll keep up his."

I shook my head. "You can't will him your power, Caleb, that's crazy. You'll die!" I said frantically my eyes beginning to well up with tears. My cousin couldn't just forfeit his life to save all of ours. I couldn't let it happen and Auntie Ev didn't need to lose somebody else.

"I say we all go after Chase," Reid said suddenly, pulling me closer to him bringing me some comfort.

"Listen, it may not be that easy," Caleb replied placing a hand on his shoulder. He was grateful that Reid was willing to fight alongside him. Even through all of their differences, Reid was loyal to his friends and I felt proud to be with him. Proud that he wouldn't be willing to sit down and let Caleb sacrifice himself for the rest of us either.

"Listen, Pogue needs his rest, but you can go in and see him for a bit," Caleb said looking at me in particular. "Call me if there's a change."

He was trying to get my mind off of the problem at hand, but it wasn't working. I was still going to continue to fret and panic about Caleb's life all the same, no matter what else was there to distract me. It was just too much and I honestly didn't think that Evelyn Danvers would ever be able to bounce back if her son was gone from this world. I wasn't even sure if _I_ could.

I nodded and watched as Caleb and Reid exchanged an understanding with meaningful looks. It was probably about me, since they would have spoken about it while I was here if it weren't. Reid and I walked over the sliding doors and went in. Pogue's eyes were open and he was looking up at the ceiling.

"Pogue?" I asked quietly. He might have wanted us to leave, but he glanced over and motioned with his scraped up hand for us to come over. I felt a bit relieved that he was at least conscious and I could see it with my own eyes.

We got closer and I put my hand carefully and gently over his. The unshed tears in my eyes began to fall.

"Roxanne, please don't cry," he said, his voice raspy and weak.

"I'm sorry," I said brushing the tears off of my cheeks hastily and concentrating on trying not to cry. Reid dropped my hand and his arm went around my waist. "How are you?" I immediately felt stupid for even asking.

Of course he wasn't good. He was in a hospital bed looking worse than I had ever seen him, even more beat up than the time he missed the landing with his skateboard and fell down a flight of cement stairs at the park. He broke his arm that time, but this was ten times as bad.

"Been better," he said giving me a tired smile. Same old Pogue. His voice was quiet and he sounded sick. "Sorry, I interrupted when I called."

Beside me, Reid snorted. My tear stained cheeks warmed significantly. "Don't worry about it. We were just playing some pool."

The look on his face said he really didn't believe us, but he looked tired and his eyelids looked heavy, like he was having a hard time keeping them up.

"We're gonna to get going. You get some rest and take it easy, man," Reid said patting Pogue's hand. "Ty'll still be here. We'll probably come by again tomorrow if you think you're up for visitors."

Pogue nodded. "Thanks."

I nodded and gave his hand a light squeeze. "Anytime. We're family." I leaned forward slowly and kissed an unscathed part of his cheek. "Get some sleep."

He suddenly looked worried. "Be careful." That nearly had me breaking down in tears again. I simply could not believe that this was all happening. I suddenly felt like nowhere and no one was safe from Chase. I feared for everyone around me. All of my friends and their families were in danger and I felt completely helpless. What could _I_ do? I didn't have any powers or magic like the Sons. I was useless.

I had been so wrapped up in my mind that I didn't even realize that we were heading out to the car already. Reid was now standing in front of me by the passenger door, staring at me intently, waiting for me to speak.

I didn't know what to say. There wasn't anything to say at this point and yet at the same time there were too many things to say. Things that I needed to get off of my chest.

"Talk to me, Rox," he said softly, his hand cupping my cheek. His eyes darted across my face for any sign of movement before making contact with mine.

I took a deep breath and Reid's face began to get blurry as tears welled up in my eyes again.

"Oh, baby, come on don't cry. We're all going to get through this," he said, both hands cupping my cheeks now as his thumbs brushed my tears away as they streamed down my face now. "Please don't cry." His voice was a whisper now. Reid kissed my face, wet with salty tears.

I sobbed, my body shaking with the force of it. I wanted to be strong now for everyone. They were all feeling the same things as I was; only they had managed to keep it together. I felt weak; weak and helpless. Useless to my friends and to Caleb. I desperately wished there was something I could do; could contribute to the fight to keep Chase away from everyone I loved and cared about. I just couldn't lose them all. I couldn't. Caleb was like my brother. He couldn't just die.

Strong arms were wrapped around me and I buried my face into Reid's sweatshirt and jacket. The scent of him calming me and I felt so safe in his embrace. Like in his arms was the safest place in the world right now. He continued to whisper comforting words in my ear until my breathing had slowed to normal and the tears had stopped falling from my tired eyes. I don't know how long we stood in the parking lot for just holding each other as I sobbed into his chest, but when everything had settled down, Reid kissed my forehead and opened the car door for me to get in.

I felt emotionally drained when I sat down in the seat and mindlessly buckled my seat belt. I closed my eyes reluctantly as I heard Reid get in the car and start it up. My lids were heavy from crying and my eyes felt strained. I didn't want to fall asleep, but I was so exhausted that I ended up resting my eyes.

* * *

I was moving lightly now, but I didn't know how. I didn't feel my legs moving yet it was enough movement to wake me from the dream of darkness I had been having. Blinking repetitively to clear my eyes and looking around I found that I was in Reid's arms and he was carrying me up the stairs towards his bedroom.

I sighed. "I fell asleep?" I asked. My voice was horse from sleep and from crying.

He nodded, smiling down at me wearily like he thought I might snap and started crying again.

I suddenly felt embarrassed for the way that I had broken down like that. It must have shown on my face because Reid's expression became soft and he leaned forward to kiss me gently. We were in his room now and he set me down on the bed, breaking the kiss, and brushing some stray strands of hair back from my face as he leaned forward.

"I'm sorry," I said quietly looking away awkwardly.

"You have nothing to be sorry for," Reid replied, lifting my chin up, forcing me to look at him. He kissed me sweetly. "Babe, I know you're upset about all of this. Caleb's smart and he's strong. He'll find a way out of the deal and he'll be fine."

I nodded. "I wish I could help."

Reid's face turned stony then softened. "Just by you being here, you're helping. If you weren't here, I don't know what I'd be doing right now. Probably something stupid to get back at Chase," he said shaking his head slightly at his own recklessness. "Your safety is my first priority. I never thought we'd actually be together and now that I've got you Roxanne, I'll be damned if I let anyone take you away from me. Not Chase, not anyone. Not again."

I pulled him down so that he was sitting on the bed next to me and hugged him to me. Tyler had mentioned something about Reid's state while I was away, but I never asked him about it. I was almost too afraid to push the matter. "I'm sorry for leaving the first time. It wasn't my choice and I would have stayed here in a heartbeat."

Reid pulled back and smiled lightly. "I know."

"Reid?" I asked my voice quiet. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to, but, what happened when I was gone?"

His face fell slowly and he looked guilty. "Well, I'm not proud of any of this, Roxi and it's the past, so please don't let this affect how you see me now."

I shook my head quickly. "Of course not."

He let out a big sigh before he began speaking again. "I started using a lot. More than I was doing before you left. Caleb and I were arguing about it all the time, my parents were pissed at me for doing it, too. I guess I just missed you. It was so different when you left. You were gone and everything was really weird for a while; awkward. I needed something to fill the void in that time so I used and I went out with a lot of girls, none of them were you obviously."

He paused briefly. "Tyler says I was kind of out of control, but things started to calm down after a few months, but every time I think about it, I wish I wouldn't have done the things that I had. You weren't around to yell at me when I was using like you always did. My mom's really right when she says that you keep me in line."

I smiled, though I knew his pain. I had made strange choices when I was gone, too. There were just a lot of confused feelings running through me at the time. I knew that he had been using more just by the way that he and Caleb got into that fight at Nicky's. They both just snapped and it had been clear to me that night that something had been going on before then. As for the girls, this, I now knew, was the reason Caleb was so against Reid and I being together. He remembered what he was like after I left. Reckless as ever and he didn't want me to get caught up in something like that.

"I was really stupid, I know," Reid said lowly. He sounded down about confessing to me. Like I somehow would reject him for his episode of unruliness, but I wouldn't.

"Well, yeah," I said before I smiled and shook my head. "No, I went through something similar. I really didn't go out much though and I felt… lost. Very lost without you guys. Mom and dad actually started to get really worried. They thought I was getting depressed. That's why they let me come back for senior year. I moped around too much is what my father said," I told him shaking my head at the memory.

I had been pretty down, but I went out for my weekly kickboxing class and every once in a great while, I'd go out with some people from school. They just weren't my boys and it was hard adjusting.

"I just feel like an idiot about it, you know?" he asked.

"Yeah, but don't beat up on yourself like that. You aren't like that anymore. And I don't stay in my room all the time and barely leave the house. It was just a difficult transition for the both of us," I replied, kissing his cheek. Even if we weren't together at that time, that kiss had left feelings unanswered and all mixed up inside of us. It made things hard.

"I'm sorry I never kept in touch," he whispered.

It was true. Reid and I hadn't spoken much since I had left. We saw each other at the annual New Year's party, but we hadn't spoken about the kiss or our feelings. We just shoved them down and acted like nothing had happened. I never could figure out why that was. The timing just wasn't right I guess for either of us.

"Me too." I yawned and Reid chuckled. He looked just as tired as I did.

"Ready for bed, babe?"

I nodded, fighting against another yawn. I stood up from the bed and tossed off my jacket and Reid's hoodie leaving me in my bra and Reid got up to fetch me another T-shirt. On his way over to the dresser, he undid his jeans and kicked them off, dropping his jacket and orange hooded sweatshirt in a pile next to it. He was now left in his black boxers. I, too, took my jeans off and waited patiently for a T-shirt to come flying my way like usual. It was a blue shirt this time and I caught it before it smacked me in the face.

"Oops, sorry, babe," Reid said, going around to his side of the bed and getting in.

"It's okay." Facing away from him, I unclipped my bra and tossed it into the same pile as my other clothes before pulling on the shirt. I turned around to see Reid laying his side, propped up on his elbow, a smile on his face.

I smiled back as I climbed into bed with him, snuggling close to his body heat. His arms immediately encircled me, pulling me flush against him. I sighed comfortably.

"It's been one hell of a day," I mumbled into his chest. Just thinking about it again, made me sad. I had no more tears left and I was far too exhausted to even cry anymore. Caleb's birthday was tomorrow night and during his ascension he was going to have to will Chase his power in order to keep any of us from getting hurt or possibly killed.

"I know," he muttered back. "Just don't worry about it too much right now. Get some sleep for tomorrow."

I smiled and kissed his bare chest. "Thank you for being there for me during my little meltdown earlier."

I felt his lips in my hair as he spoke. "Anytime, babe. Goodnight."

I sighed contently. "Night, Reid."

His breathing began to slow and even out as he fell asleep.

I on the other hand, stayed awake for quite some time worrying before finally dozing off into a light sleep.


	15. Warnings

**Disclaimer_: I do not own the concept or characters from the movie, "The Covenant." Any other characters not related to the movie, are mine and are NOT to be used in any other fan fictions. I also don't own any other things you recognize. _**

**Author Note: **_Hey all, sorry for the delay, but here's chapter 15. I'm planning on updating again maybe tomorrow or near the end of the week :) I hope you all enjoy!_

_**Please don't forget to review!** __Thank you for reading and **thanks so much to my loyal readers and reviewers. **I greatly appreciate the feedback! You guys are amazing! Enjoy! -IB_

_

* * *

__It was eerily dark and I felt watched. It reminded me of something out of a horror movie. I couldn't tell where I was, even as I tried to feel any sort of object in front of me. Nothing. Just utter blackness. I felt alone and yet not as I could faintly hear breathing nearby. Someone was here with me, where ever here was._

"_Hello?" I asked peering around in the darkness. My bottom half was cold and I reached down to feel the cotton on the shirt I had slept in. That was weird in itself. I never had a dream this vivid before. I vaguely wondered if it had been because I was so upset before I went to bed, I didn't know._

_A light chuckle came from the right of me and I spun quickly to see a small beam of light turn on from somewhere. I could only make out a male figure as he made his way forward towards me, the beam following him as he moved. What did he want? Briefly, shapes were outlined in the light. It appeared that I was in a room of some sort. In any case, it didn't feel familiar, so I truly had no clue as to where I was. _

"_Roxanne," the voice called from the figure as he walked a few more feet, then stopped about a yard or two away. He held his arms out to his sides, motioning to the area around him. "What do you think?" His voice seemed amused, yet dark and I squinted to see if I could make out his face._

_I said nothing of course which seemed to entertain him even more because he chuckled again. "I suppose you can't really see anything to truly admire it, huh?" The entire room lit up and I was face to face with Chase Collins. The last person I thought or wanted to see in my dreams._

_Shock must have been plastered all over my face because he smirked. "Not expecting me?"_

_I shook my head. This wasn't real. It was only a dream. I just needed to wake up and everything would be fine. "This is just a dream," I muttered to myself for reassurance. More like a nightmare._

_Chase shook his head, his smirk widening as he began walking around, almost like he was circling his prey. "Oh, this is all very real, sweetheart."_

_I frowned and watched him cautiously. I didn't appreciate the pet names, especially not from Chase. It made me feel disgusted and uncomfortable instantly. "You're doing this?" I asked hesitantly. I wasn't sure if I should have answered him or not. If he really was doing this, it didn't seem like I'd be finding a peaceful exit to this dream anytime soon._

"_Bingo," he replied. It looked like this whole conversation and the fact that I was here was some form of entertainment to him. Something to pass the time. He liked to toy with people._

"_What do you want?" I asked harshly. I wanted him to cut the cat and mouse crap and just get straight to the point. Why was I here?_

_He laughed. "You don't like to waste any time, do you?"_

_I stayed silent, my eyes narrowed as I followed his movements._

_Chase stopped moving momentarily. "Well, you see, Roxanne I'm going to need you to do me a favor. You and I are going to make a little deal. Just between us."_

_A deal? Wasn't it enough that he was making Caleb choose between us and his life? It infuriated me that Chase just thought he could waltz into our lives and use us all as pawns in some kind of demented game. _

_"What the fuck could you possibly want now?" I spat angrily. I couldn't hide my fury. Two of my best friends were in the hospital because of the sick man standing in front of me and my cousin was about to give up his life for the rest of us, all thanks to this asshole._

_"I don't think I like your tone," he said eerily calm as he stepped toward me, menace on hi face. I stepped back immediately. For every step he took forward, I took two steps back. "I like them fiery, but you're a little too enflamed. Somebody has to cool you off."_

_I glared, feeling fright seep into my veins when I found myself backed against a wall. No escape. Panic._

_"Get away from me," I replied lowly. I desperately wished that somehow I woke up right now._

_"Now," he began, one hand pressed to the wall beside my head, the other grabbed my chin roughly forcing me to look at his face. "We can do this the easy way, or the hard way." Chase pressed his body against mine, particularly his lower half and I tried my best to shrink against the wall. There was nothing I wanted more than to get away from him. My stomach churned with nervous anticipation. I thought I might throw up._

_I kept silent, my eyes meeting his in a stare down. I thought of all of the different ways I could try to get out of this situation without getting myself killed or worse, but nothing would have worked. Chase was too powerful and all it took was one flash of his eyes I would be rendered helpless. A prisoner trapped in my own hellish dream._

_"What do you want?" I asked again, my voice coming out quieter, yet still holding strong which clearly surprised me. It didn't match my emotions inside. I thought I was a goner._

_"Caleb's share of the power and I want _you _to convince him to give it all up; not that Mr. Golden Boy needs any more of a conscience, but maybe just a little push in the right direction from his dear, baby cousin would seal the deal," Chase said, looking thoughtful and determined. That humor was etched in his face and I for one couldn't find anything funny about any of it._

_I wasn't sure what to say. If I told him to go to Hell, I would surely put myself in danger, but agreeing with the idea of my cousin dying for my life? Never, not even to get away unharmed. What would it mean if I agreed? Surely there was some sort of consequence if I didn't actually go to Caleb and tell him to go through with it. Either way I saw it, I was fucked._

_"No." It was a simple word and yet it held such an affirmation that Chase's eyes bled to black and a scowl came over his face._

_Pain seized my body and I could barely choke out a scream before it ended. Just a taste of the worst to come._

_He looked at me expectantly. His eyes a normal color once more._

_"No." Pain surged through me again and I managed a scream this time. The pain was nothing that I had ever felt. It was as though tiny needles and knifes were tearing through my organs and poking out slowly through my skin. Tears streaked my face and when the torture vanished, I dropped to the floor, catching my breath and nursing my sides. My entire body core felt tore up and I was surprised when I wasn't bleeding out through the shirt._

_"Why is it so important?" I hoarsely croaked out._

_His expression of annoyance turned to a sickening grin. "It doesn't. I just want to make my point clear. You're an insurance policy, sweetheart. If Caleb doesn't go through with his end of the deal, I can guarantee that this isn't the worst of what I can do to you or his little friends."_

_A crumpled figure abruptly appeared in the corner of the room. Spiders crawled eagerly from Chase's hand as he touched the heap of a person's shoulder, blonde hair matted down. The creepy arachnids scurried around the body burying themselves in the flesh. The head lifted agonized and the eyes, blue, looked at me, but not seeing. Reid's face clearly showed pain. My heart stopped in my chest. This wasn't happening._

_"Reid!" I tried to rush forward to save him, my body uncooperative and weak from the earlier attack. I fought against the aches to get to him. There was nothing I could do and my fear of spiders aside I fought to swat them off of him. I sobbed at the helplessness of the situation. Somewhere behind me, Chase was chuckling finding twisted humor in such a sight._

_A movement from the corner of my eye had me turning my head to see Tyler in the same predicament as Reid. I fought to keep the spiders from both boys. Why was this happening? _

"_Why are you doing this?" I cried to Chase, my heart aching. They would die and there was nothing I could do. I was useless again. "Please, don't hurt them!"_

_Looking back, Reid's head had dropped to his chest and I prayed he wasn't dead. "Reid!" I sobbed, clutching him to me. "Don't die, please don't die. Don't leave me."_

I awoke with a start, taking in a deep, shaking breath as Reid shook me to full consciousness.

"Roxi!" he said frantically, his hands running over my face and in my hair. "What's wrong? You were screaming."

"Reid," I said quietly, wrapping my arms around him and just holding him. He was alive and here. "Spiders."

"Shh," he said soothingly, his hands running over my back to calm me. "There aren't any spiders here."

"And Chase," I whispered, squeezing my eyes shut at the memory.

"Chase?" he asked, he pulled back to look at my face. It was nearly dawn and I could see the worry on his face in the soft light. "It was only a nightmare, Rox." His thumbs brushed evident tear streaks off of my cheeks. I hadn't realized that my face felt cold from the wetness.

I shook my head. I wasn't so sure. "I don't know. It all felt very real."

He furrowed his eyebrows. "You think he was in your dream?"

I bit my lip, thinking for a moment. "I think so."

Suddenly, I noticed that my limbs were sort stiff, as if I'd been exercising. A dull ache was forming along my sides and across my chest. "It was like he was… I don't know, dream walking or whatever that's called. He was real and in my dream." I couldn't even call it a dream. It was a nightmare. The worst I had ever had.

"What happened?" Reid asked and I saw him hesitate.

I was silent. I wanted to block out those events. They tore me apart. Tyler and Reid dying before my eyes. I couldn't bear it. "He wanted me to pass along what he was made of. He means business and he just wanted me to tell you guys that."

"Roxi," he began softly. "Did he… did he do anything to you?"

I shook my head quickly. "No, not like that." It was a close call though, or so he had me thinking for that brief moment.

"Thank God." Reid looked torn like he was debating on whether he should stay with me or bolt for the door and go after Chase. I knew that was what he really wanted to do and had he not changed some of his reckless ways, he would have been out that door in a heart beat in search of Chase.

"Dammit," he said angrily, his hand clenching into a fist on the bed. "He has a lot of fucking nerve going into your dreams and hurting you when I'm right here. He's a pussy, hiding in your mind where I can't get to him. If he was here right now, I'd kill him. Kill him for even looking at you."

"Reid," I said putting my hand on his cheek. "It's okay. There wasn't anything you could have done to prevent it." My sides hurt greatly when I moved and I tried not to wince, but he must have noticed because his face dropped from anger to concern.

"Rox, where are you hurt? Are you alright?" he asked searching my face for some other sign that I was in pain.

"It's not too bad, just my sides are a little sore. I'm sure it's nothing."

In a second, Reid had flipped on the light (probably by using) and was lifting up the large shirt he gave me to sleep in for any injuries. I watched his face turn stunned and then angry again.

Looking down, I found to my surprise as well that bruises were forming along my ribcage. Right now they were sort of faint on my skin, but noticeable and I hoped they would stay that way, but something told me they'd get worse. He prodded tenderly at my bruised ribs and I winced, sucking in a breath.

"I don't think anything is broken, just sore," I repeated.

"Jesus," he breathed, looking up at my face. "What the hell did he do to you? Lie back down, baby. I'll get you some aspirin." His voice was gentle and he seemed to have masked his anger up for now. He hopped off the bed and disappeared into his bathroom.

I slowly rested back against the pillows and sighed.

He appeared moments later holding a cup and two pills in his hand. "Nothing felt out of place, but maybe we should get you checked out later."

I took the pills with a thankful smile and popped them before swallowing them with a gulp of tap water.

Reid took the cup back from me and set in on the nightstand before flipping off all the lights and getting back into bed. His lips pressed to my cheek carefully. "I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault, Reid. Chase is asshole, okay? And he wants to prove himself to us. He wants to make sure Caleb keeps up his end of the bargain," I replied quietly. "He's power hungry."

I warily moved onto my side, sucking in another breath from a sharp pain and moved closer to Reid. I was hurt, but I needed to be in his arms. To feel safe again, especially when even my dreams were an unclear zone. He eased his arms around me, careful not to put a lot of pressure on my battered ribs. I figured it must have happened from the horrible pain I had felt in my insides during the dream. I was still breathing and conscious, so I supposed that my insides were in tact and fully functioning.

Thinking back on the events that occurred in that nightmare, I wondered if Chase had picked through my mind or something and was playing off of my emotions. The fact that I was once again helpless and useless to my friends was only adding to my feelings from earlier. It made sense I guessed. Still, it came as a shock that Chase was strong enough to appear invisible and yet it was an even bigger shock that he could walk right into someone's dream and control it. I was scared. I'd try to never let that show, but I was. Terrified in fact. There didn't seem to be anything to stop Chase even if Caleb had a strong line of users in the Covenant, Chase was still more powerful.

"I think we should call Caleb," Reid said abruptly breaking my thoughts and moving to sit up.

I shook my head against the pillow, frowning deeply and grabbing his arms to keep him with me. "No, it'd only make him worry. Please don't, Reid. Not when he has his ascension to worry about tomorrow."

It was true. Caleb would only fret about it and then he'd lose sleep (if he hadn't already). He needed his strength and his rest for tonight's events to come. It would have been just one more thing on Caleb's plate and it was exactly what Chase wanted. He wanted me to go and show Caleb the damage he had done to prove his point just like he had with Pogue and Kate. It was all a ploy to get Caleb to will him his power without backing out. I hated Chase, more than anyone or anything in the entire world at that moment.

"But, Roxanne—"

"No," I replied firmly. "That's what Chase wants me to do, to tell Caleb. We can't. I'm fine, honestly."

He frowned and again looked conflicted. "I really think we should tell him."

"And I honestly think that would be the worst idea you've had so far today. He's got too much on his plate right now; he doesn't need another problem to add to it. Please, Reid, can we just keep this between us?" I asked looking up at him earnestly.

He was quiet for a moment or two before he finally nodded and sighed in defeat. "This goes against every fiber of my being, just like not going after Chase right now, but I guess if it's what you want then I'll keep my mouth shut."

I smiled softly. "Thank you for you doing this for me." I reached up and kissed his cheek.

"Only for you, now try and get some rest. Relax. Are you comfortable or do you want me to get you something?" he asked.

I shook my head the best that I could. "Nope, I'm perfect for now, thanks."

"Yeah, you are." His voice sounded sleepy, but I could tell there was a smile on his face despite the situation.

I blushed. "That wasn't what I meant."

"It's true. Now, I think you should get some more sleep, but I don't know if Chase is going to bother you more. What do you think you want to do? I'll stay awake and watch over you if you decide to catch some sleep."

I kissed him gently to silence him. "No, it's alright I'm sort of up now anyway. I think I might take a shower or try to soak in the bathtub. If you want to still sleep you can," I replied shifting slightly.

I peeked over his shoulder as best as I could without moving my ribs too much. 6:13, that wasn't too bad. Earlier than I normally liked to get up, but I didn't know if I could get back to sleep after that. Whenever I closed my eyes I could see the horrific images of Reid and Tyler in my mind.

Reid shook his head, but yawned. "No, I can't sleep knowing Chase has his slimy, son of a bitch eye on you."

"Reid, seriously, you're not going to be upsetting me any if you choose to go back to sleep," I told him, carefully sliding out of his embrace and out of the bed. It was a little difficult, but I managed only pausing to take a breather once.

"And I'm serious about the fact that I'm not going back to sleep. Do you want any help?" His voice was sincere and as I met his eyes I blushed again.

Truth was, I didn't know if I really might have needed his help. I attempted to move my arms up and a shooting pain pierced my ribs and insides. I yelped pitifully and Reid hopped up from the bed.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'," he said affirmatively taking my hand and walking me into the bathroom, flipping on the light.

My face heated up and I felt embarrassed. "I might be okay, if I just move slowly."

Reid turned back to me; there wasn't a trace of his usual smirk on his face. "Just let me help you. I'll keep my eyes closed if that's makes you feel any better, but trust me with this."

Looking into his blue eyes I saw the hurt in them. Reid thought I was assuming he'd take advantage of the situation. I didn't, I guessed I was just feeling modest and vulnerable.

"I _do _trust you."

He smiled lightly and kissed me in such a way that I felt completely cared for and safe. He broke away gently taking the hem of the big T-shirt and pulling it up careful as ever. His eyes darted from his hands on my shirt to my face, gauging my reactions and making sure not to bump into my bruised flesh. When he reached just under my breasts he paused and closed his eyes to my surprise. Getting the shirt off was a lot more difficult with Reid's eyes closed and with my sore sides it made it tricky to lift my arms up. We struggled for a few moments before he sighed clearly frustrated and peeked an eye open.

"Sorry, Rox, but I can't see to get this damn thing off," he muttered apologetically.

I was just as annoyed as he was, if not more. "It's fine. Just go ahead." Modesty aside, I needed some help and Reid was the only one to do so.

"Forget it, I'll just use. It'd be easier for you." His eyes flashed black and the shirt became two sizes larger, nearly hanging off of my frame. He lifted it, my arms went through a lot quicker and he finished by pulling it over my head. Reid dropped the shirt to the ground as well as his eyes. "Guess I could have just cut it off, but why waste a shirt that looks so good on you."

"Thank you," I told him quietly, smiling lightly. I took measured movements to take his face in my hands and press my lips fully to his.

He returned the kiss ghosting his fingertips down my spine, maintaining the distance between our bare top halves. It sent a chill through me, a good one and Reid pulled away slowly.

"Cold?" he asked, though there was a knowing look in his eyes.

I smiled at him and shook my head.

"I'll run the water for you. Bath? I think that'd be easier, no? You've got the Jacuzzi jets, might as well use 'em, right?" he said moving away from me and walking over to the huge tub, turning on the water and checking it with his hand to make sure it was warm enough.

It didn't bother me being topless in front of Reid; I had come to realize that in the past few minutes. I looked down at my black and pink panties frowning. Now that I wasn't so sure about. As the tub filled itself, he turned back to me making sure to remain eye contact.

"Should be ready soon. Fall Fest is tonight. What's your dress look like?" he inquired leaning against the granite counter.

I frowned playfully and took a few steps to stand in front of him. "I told you I wasn't telling."

"Aw, come on," he said pouting teasingly. "Just a hint?" He hands were soft on my skin as they slid around to my back, resting lightly, his fingertips brushing against my skin.

I pretended to think for a moment. "I don't know. One hint, just one."

He smiled. "Alright, let's hear it."

"It's dark blue."

"What? What kind of hint is that, babe?" he asked.

"Fine. There's a deep V in the front from here," I said taking one of his hands from around my waist and placed a finger at my collarbone. "To here." I dragged his finger down to rest in the center of my bare breasts. "Happy?"

His eyes followed his finger and he smirked before his eyes met mine again. "Very."

I guess I was feeling gutsy. After what I witnessed in my dreams with Chase, I supposed it was best to live life to the fullest; it was too short to waste. Unfortunately, I wasn't currently in the_ best_ condition to be doing anything _too_ physical and I thanked God that it wasn't a school day where I would have to change for gym and exercise.

I could stare into those blue eyes of his forever, but I slid them away to the tub where the water was closely reaching the top. Reid's eyes must have followed mine because he sighed, dropped his hands from my body and left to turn the water off.

"You want the jets on lightly?" he asked his back to me, his finger hovering over the button.

I shrugged. "Sure, that actually sounds really good." I just had to make sure they didn't do any more harm and avoided my ribs.

Taking a deep breath, I hooked my thumbs into my panties and eased them down, they slid the rest of the way down my legs and I kicked them off. I felt entirely exposed and shy all of a sudden. It was an intimidating feeling, but I remembered that I trusted Reid, so why would I feel so afraid? He was helping me and I had to keep that in mind.

"Ready?" He wasn't turning around, yet he held his hand out to me.

I took it slowly and he led me into the Jacuzzi sized bathtub, helping me in. I didn't check to see if his eyes were open or closed and it didn't matter to me all that much at the moment. Carefully sitting down, I let myself sigh in relief at the steamy water, the jets very gentle against my shoulders. I closed my eyes and yawned and sunk deep beneath the bathwater enough to cover me up for the most part.

Beside me, Reid chuckled and kissed my cheek. He was kneeling down next to the tub. "Enjoying yourself?"

"Oh yeah," I replied grinning. My eyes ran over his seminude body before I looked into his eyes, serious. "Join me?"

He looked stunned, and yet conflicted. "Rox, I don't know. You sure?"

I nodded. "I could use some company."

Right now, it was time for soaking my battered body to see if that would ease some of the muscle ache and any other pain I could dull that the aspirin wouldn't take care of. I thought I'd try for a shower later before I got ready for the dance. Caleb still expected us to go I guess, to keep our minds off and ourselves away from him and Chase. The Jacuzzi tub was big enough for two; in fact I was sure it was built specifically for two people.

I could lose the ones I loved any day at any time. I might as well start making some more memories and spending as much time as possible with Reid. It certainly occurred to me that he'd be naked right along with me under the water, but for some reason the thought didn't bother me. Trust. Again, that word made itself prominent in my mind. If I trusted Reid enough to be nude in front of him, I should be able to handle seeing him naked as well. It made me nervous of course, us being bare in the bathtub. It was a gateway that would lead to other things, but I was willing to take that risk.

Right now I just wanted to be near Reid as much as possible. I needed to be. Too many bad things had happened and I wanted to be where ever he was.

"If you're really sure, baby," he said, planting a small kiss on my nude shoulder before standing up.

Again I nodded and gave him smile. "Positive."


	16. Heartfelt Confessions

**Disclaimer_: I do not own the concept or characters from the movie, "The Covenant." Any other characters not related to the movie, are mine and are NOT to be used in any other fan fictions. I also don't own any other things you recognize. _**

**Author Note: **_Hey everybody, here's chapter 16. I'm planning on updating again maybe some time over the weekend again or at least by Tuesday at the latest :) I hope you all enjoy!_

_**Please don't forget to review!** __Thank you for reading and **thanks so much to my loyal readers and reviewers. **I greatly appreciate the feedback! You guys are amazing! Enjoy! -IB_

* * *

Looking up at Reid's standing form from my relaxing bath, he noticed me and smiled. I sighed softly, part of me anxious with anticipation, the other half completely comfortable with the entire situation. It made me think back to when I first came back a couple of weeks ago. Things weren't necessarily awkward, but I was blushing constantly and super self conscious. Now, I really didn't care. Too many bad events had taken place so far that caring about nudity or Reid and my sexual relationship was completely pointless and took too much energy that I didn't have. Besides, Reid wasn't acting like that around me, he was entirely relaxed and I wondered if he ever got nervous when it came to anything sexual. Probably not, looking back on his track record, why on earth would he be _nervous _of all things? That would be ridiculous.

He gave me was last long look, expecting me to change my mind and take off running from the room or something, but I stared intently back, not moving from my spot. His hands went to his boxers and as he pushed them to the floor, I looked away out of politeness, giving him the same treatment as he did to me. With my finger, I was drawing circles on the surface of the water when I felt him step into the tub and out of the corner of my eye I saw him sit down diagonally from me. His leg brushed against mine and he smiled apologetically, moving it away from me immediately. I figured he was trying to give me my space and he didn't want to push his luck. I had asked him to join me naked; I guessed he thought that was as much as he was granted today.

Reid thought wrong. There was nothing I wanted more than to be near him.

I shook my head and moved close to him, our skin touching ever so slightly, just brushing thighs gently. He froze a look of uncertainty on his face. Didn't he want this? To be with me like this? I suddenly felt extremely vulnerable and open. My feelings must have shown on my face because Reid shifted forward.

"Come here," he whispered, pulled my face to his, and pressed his lips softly to mine.

It was a sweet tender kiss and I fell into it instantly. His hands were on my neck, cradling my head and brushing his thumbs across my cheeks. My knees were pressed against his and there was still plenty of distance between the rest of our bodies. My hands were at his chest, not really maintaining our distance, but keeping me from falling right into him. It was as far as I could lift my arms for right now, still minding the dull ache in my ribs. I was leaning forward and with the soft, yet passionate kisses I continued to find it difficult to not feel weak in the knees and every other part of my body.

Reid's tongue slid across my bottom lip and I gave him access right away. His tongue lightly touched mine coaxing mine to play along. I sighed contently into his mouth as his hands slid down my shoulders and back under the water. His fingers just brushed against my flesh and along my spine. Shivers ran through me again and again it wasn't from the cold. His mouth pulled away from mine and made its way down my neck to my collarbone and shoulder lightly kissing and sucking. I was sure that there would be some trace of a mark from his ministrations. I moaned quietly, a tingling started in my stomach and worked its way down between my legs.

My hands rubbed over his chest and down to his abs where I traced the shallow lines, feeling the muscles ripple under my touch. I smiled, and pulled Reid's mouth back to mine, one hand tangled in the hair at the back of his head. Reid's touch was driving me insane and I couldn't help but to love the feel of his hands on me. Or was it just him that I loved. Both, I loved both him and his touch and I couldn't get enough of either.

I felt his hands slide down to rest at my hips briefly before trailing down my thighs. At about mid thigh, his fingers slid in between my closed legs, and slowly spread them apart so that they rested on either side of his own. While one hand returned to its spot on my back, the other brushed up the inside of my thigh. My breath hitched when his hand pressed flat between my legs against the center of my heat just testing my reaction.

This sort of thing was supposed to have turned me into that same prudish bundle of nerves that wanted to stop and sit on opposite sides of the bathtub, wasn't it? Truth was it didn't in the slightest. I guessed that it was because I trusted Reid so much, enough to trust him with my body and even my heart. Speaking of which, my heart was pounding in my chest so loudly I was sure the whole damn neighborhood could here it. It was a good pounding though, simply adrenaline pushing through, surprisingly no nerves. Not anymore. Now wasn't the time for nerves to get in the way, and I was glad they were gone for the present time.

A brush of his fingers against the hot crease sent all thought out the window as well as a harsh shiver through me. I moaned into Reid's mouth and my hand fisted in his hair tugged lightly on the strands. He grunted in return as his lips traveled across my cheek and down my neck. He ran his fingers along that white hot heat again, pressing firmly, fingers nearly dipping in as he did so. I was at my wits end as another shudder ran through me, making me dizzy and I moaned again.

Suddenly the pressure was gone and both of his hands were on my lower back, pulling me closer to him. Eagerly I shifted to straddle his lap, and felt something firm against my lower half for a moment when I tried to move closer. At that, my heart thudded even harder and another shiver ran down my spine, heat flaming in my center. He returned his hot mouth to mine and I accepted him generously.

"Reid," I breathed against his lips when I felt the rub of his lower half against mine again.

"I know," he said kissing my cheek, catching his breath as he leaned his forehead against mine. He voice was husky and I loved it.

"I think we should—"

"Stop?" he asked planting another gentle, yet heated kiss on my lips.

I shook my head. "No, I think we should keep going," I replied softly meeting his eyes. I was carefully raising my arms to wrap them around his neck when I winced and hissed as a sharp pain shot down my sides. "Shit."

Reid shook his head sadly kissing my forehead. "Not like this. You're in too much pain and I don't want to hurt you more, baby."

I frowned as a feeling of rejection took over me. I knew that he was probably right and that it would make things tricky if I was in pain almost every time I moved, but it still felt like a rejection.

"Hey," he said gently, cupping my cheeks gazing in my eyes with his blue ones. "I want to, believe me. There's nothing I want more in this world than you, Roxanne, and it kills me to say it, but we can't. Not right now at least. Soon, I promise. We'll just wait until you aren't in so much pain. I think it'll be easier that way."

I nodded slowly, I was beginning to catch my breath and my heartbeat was returning to normal, well as normal as it could be while I was pressed to Reid.

"Since when has Reid Joseph Garwin ever been so thoughtful and sweet in his entire life?" I asked a smile tugging on my lips. As disappointed as I was, I knew he had a valid point. And we had waited this long, what was a few days more, right? I wished so badly that Chase hadn't injured me the way that he did. He was such a fucking complication. I loathed him and hoped that Caleb fucking kicked the shit outta him.

"Since I found the sweetest thing in my life. I guess you're rubbing off on me," he said kissing me softly. "God, I sound like such a lovesick pansy."

"No!" I said shaking my head and giggling. "No, I like you this way." I kissed his neck.

"Yeah? Well, that's good. I didn't want to sound like an idiot for nothing."

I leaned back and smiled. "You never sound like an idiot. Okay, well, there have been a few times, but…" I finished grinning playfully.

Reid shook his head and rolled his eyes at me teasingly. "Oh, you're just _so_ funny."

"I know, it's a gift."

"One of your many. Now, let's get you out of this tub," he replied smiling. He kissed my cheek and carefully moved me off of him.

I nodded and moved back enough for him to get up and then I remembered something. "Er, what do you want to do with that?" I asked pointing down to the water where I figured _it_ was still standing at attention. God, now I was calling it _"it" _like I was a thirteen-year-old girl.

His face looked frustrated for a brief moment and he sighed. "I'll deal with it. Do you need help getting up or anything?"

I shook my head. "No, I can get out myself. I'll leave you to your… business. I'll be in the bedroom." I stood up slowly to make sure that I didn't slip. Reid's eyes skimmed over my body before he squeezed his eyes shut. That frustrated look was on his face again. I frowned as he held his hand out to stabilize me so that I could get out of the tub without falling on my face. I grabbed a towel and wrapped it around myself before turning back to Reid who sat in the tub just watching me intently.

"You know, Reid, just because we aren't going to have sex right this very second, doesn't mean we can't do other things," I told him a question in my eyes. What would he say?

"Are you sure about all of this?" he asked me, shifting in the bathtub to find the plug to drain it.

"Why wouldn't I be?" I responded furrowing my eyebrows. I didn't like him questioning my desires like that. I was sure he never asked any of the other girls he had sex with, if they were sure about it. They just were and so was he. Why was I any different?

"I don't know. I mean, what brought this on all of sudden?"

I shrugged before pausing. I sighed. "Recent events I guess. They just made me realize that life is too short to wait any longer."

"Rox, come here," he said, motioning for me to go back over to where he sat. When I was close enough, Reid took my hand and looked up at me, his face was serious again. "Didn't I say that I'd wait for you? We don't have to rush things because of the problem with Chase and everything, babe."

"You don't understand. I saw you _die_," I said quietly. "Chase put a powerful spell on you and I watched you die and there was nothing that I could do about it. I don't want to lose you."

Reid's face fell and squeezed my hand, getting up from the tub to pull me into an embrace. "That's not going to happen. I won't let anything happen to me and I certainly won't let anything happen to you. He was just playing with your emotions. He knew you'd be upset about everything that happened last night and he was torturing you! He's an asshole, Roxanne! You don't have to worry about Chase doing anything to either of us."

I hugged his wet body to mine the best that I could with my bruised torso. "I know, but the whole experience made me realize some things. If you thought that I could die at any second, wouldn't you start thinking the same thing?" I questioned getting upset. It was a fear I had and he was undermining it.

He frowned, angry that I even had to ask such a question I guessed, and kissed my forehead. "Of course I would."

"Then why are you acting like this?"

"Because I love you, damn it," he said frustrated again, running a hand through his blonde hair. "And I want to do this right for once."

I froze and I could have sworn that my mouth fell open very unattractively and my eyes popped out of my head. "You_ what_?" I asked in a soft voice, unsure that I had heard him correctly.

Reid cupped my face in his hands and pulled me in for a heart melting kiss that I felt down to my toes. "I love you, Roxanne." He sounded sure of himself and a small smile was tugging at the corners of that beautiful mouth of his. "I'm _in_ love with you and I just want to keep you safe and happy. That's all, but I want to do this whole thing, the whole relationship the right way and professing my love for you while I'm standing here naked, probably wasn't the best way to start off." He was chuckling by now and shaking his head at himself.

I grinned and couldn't stop the happy laughter that flowed from my mouth. Even the pain in my sides didn't faze me a bit in my joy. I pulled Reid's face back to mine. "No, it was perfect. _You're_ perfect and I _love_ you, Reid Garwin." Our lips met again in another loving and gentle kiss. I couldn't keep from smiling even as I kissed him and it seemed that Reid couldn't either.

"I'm glad you said that, baby." He kissed me again. "Breakfast? I'll make it and bring it up to you if you just want to stay in bed."

"My my my, you sure are acting sweet," I replied pecking his lips before my tongue flicked out and I lick his lips lightly. "Taste sweet, too."

I grinned at Reid's lust filled expression until my cell phone rang obnoxiously from the bedroom; "Say it Ain't So" by Weezer. We both sighed and rolled our eyes remembering what happened last time we tried to ignore a phone call. It happened to be the never ending phone stalking until Reid finally answered it. I didn't feel like getting an instant replay of that.

"I'll go get that. I love you." It felt great to say those words to Reid. They just flowed so smoothly off the tongue.

"Love you, babe."

I kissed his lips once more before going back into the bedroom and answering my phone that sat on the nightstand. "Hello?"

"Hey, Rox. I hope I didn't wake you up," Caleb said. He sounded tired.

"No, no that's fine. I was already up, taking a bath." The bathroom door shut and I raised an eyebrow briefly in curiosity before returning my attention back to my cousin.

"A bath?" he asked. The water in the shower started and I figured Reid must have been taking a shower… or taking care of his "predicament", isn't that what guys did sometimes in the shower? It was all that I had gathered from hanging around males my entire life. I heard them talk and give each other shit about things that I never wanted to know in a million years, yet there I was hearing an earful.

"Yeah, I like to start my days like that sometimes. Helps me unwind," I said fidgeting with a thread on the towel as I sat down on the bed. "How are things? How are you?"

"I'm fine. Sarah's in the other room sleeping. I let her in on the secret," he said hesitantly. Did he think I would be mad? It wasn't my secret to tell and if he thought that Sarah was the one for him, then so be it. Not to mention the fact that she was wrapped up in this whole mess as well. "I had to tell her."

"How'd she take it?" I asked getting up to retrieve a clean pair of panties from my designated drawer. I snatched some shorts as well and a tank top. Dropping the towel, I started to get dressed as I listened to his reply.

"Pretty well. She had already suspected something from her dreams and the reading she did in the library, so I guess she took it easier than some. I had to bring her back here. It was too much of a risk leaving her at the dorms. I couldn't do it," he confided. I heard him sigh. "How are things over there?"

I smiled to myself as I maneuvered carefully to pull the shirt on. It wasn't working and I strained the muscles in my sides. I hissed and bit back a yelp. "Just fine," I managed to bite out.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I stubbed my toe on the dresser. Everything's going great over here. So what's going on?"

"Well, I wanted to know if you guys could head over here a little later in the day. You and Sarah could get ready here and everything. We just… we have to have a meeting about a few things pertaining to tonight. I'd just really be happy to have you guys here," Caleb replied. He sounded like he was holding things together pretty well, but there was an underlying sad tone, a disheartened tone and it broke my heart.

"We'll be there. You know we will," I said firmly. "We love you and we'll be there. Around four alright?" The Fall Fest started at 6:30, so that gave us all enough time to get ready and to chat about the things to come.

"That's great. I'll see you both then," he said sounding relieved.

"Bye." I hung up and grabbed the remote, lying down on the bed and flipping the TV on.

I'd have to wait for Reid to get out of the bathroom to get my shirt on. I couldn't get it on myself and I doubted if I'd be able to get my dress on very well either, but I'd do my best so that I wouldn't need to ask Sarah. I didn't need her seeing the bruises and telling Caleb. I also didn't want to ask Reid for help and ruin the surprise of the dress.

HBO was on, and some movie about something or other playing. I didn't know what it was, but I wasn't really interested. I stood in front of the mirror on the dresser and peered at my bruises. They were getting darker now and I wondered how in the hell I was going to wear that dress with its open back. I supposed that some cover up would help just a bit, not much, but enough that people might not notice them as much in the dark of the Fall Fest.

Amongst the bruises across my ribcage, a small bruise was shaping on my lower neck where Reid mouth had been. I'd have to remember to cover that up, too or Caleb wouldn't flip, not to mention if Auntie Ev saw it. Then she might convey the message to my parents and that would just lead them to thinking of the worst. Glancing over at the TV, a blonde girl was running across the screen from some guy. I wasn't sure what movie it was, but it certainly wasn't sparking my interest any.

I sat back down on the comfy bed and sighed watching the screen. There wasn't anything exciting going on, just some people talking about things I not only didn't care about, but didn't understand because I had came in to late into the movie. It was the end I guess and the credits began rolling up the screen just minutes after that scene in the movie. I started flipping through the channels until I found Resident Evil: Apocalypse on. Sure zombies were creepy and all, but I found those movies to be generally entertaining. I was cranking the volume up just as the bathroom door opened. He'd taken a pretty long shower in Reid terms. He never took longer than ten minutes tops; however he was in there for at least fifteen or twenty.

"I thought you might have drowned," I said playfully turning to him. "I need help getting my shirt on."

He grinned. "I had to take care of something, remember?" he said, going over to the dresser to get some clothes. He had a towel wrapped around his waist. I watched intently as the water he failed to dry off of his body, made trails down his back.

I made a face even though he couldn't see it. "I figured."

He peeked over his shoulder at me, a smirk evident on his face. "Don't worry, I was thinking about you and that sexy body of yours the _whole_ time."

My face felt hot and I huffed. "Reid!" I scolded even though I fought to keep the smile off of my pink tinted face.

"Relax," he said casually as he turned around and came over to the bed, his clothes in his hand. He kissed my cheek as he sat down next to me. He took the white tank top that I had sitting behind me and his eyes flashed black enlarging the shirt much like he had done before.

"Thanks," I muttered as he helped me get my arms through without lifting them too high. When it was fully on, his eyes flashed again and the tank top shrunk to become smaller, maybe smaller than it had originally started off as. Reid's face broke out into a wide grin as his eyes focused on my breasts pushing against the shirt. It was nearly see through and I wondered if it even made a different if I wore a shirt at this point, since it turned out to be not so much of a tank top in the first place.

"Reid," I said warningly.

His hungry stare flew up to my face and he shrugged completely unembarrassed at the way he was acting. "Okay babe. _I_ thought it looked good." His eyes flashed again the shirt went back to its original size.

I kissed him quickly before he stood up to get his own clothes on. "So, Caleb wants us to come over later to get ready and discuss some stuff before the dance." I looked down at my hands on my lap as Reid dropped his towel. "Close to four."

"Fine with me. You want to eat dinner around 3:30 then?" he asked. "We can go out to eat some place if you're sick of eating here."

I shrugged. "Whatever you want to do is okay with me." I looked up to see him dressed in some loose dark jeans and a grey T-shirt. He was rubbing the towel through his hair to dry it a bit.

Reid smiled. "You hungry for breakfast yet?" He threw the towel into the bathroom and walked over to the bed as I stood.

"Yeah," I replied nodding and taking his offered hand.

"You know you can stay up here right?"

I shook my head. "I don't want to. I like watching you cook me food. It's cute."

He quirked an eyebrow. "Whatever you say, baby." He kissed the top of my head and walked with me out of the bedroom to go and eat.

As we walked down the stairs and to the kitchen I began to sink into thought about tonight's upcoming events and I sent a silent prayer to God that we all survived the night. We needed to. It would have tore us all up if anything bad happened.


	17. Fall Fest Madness

**Disclaimer_: I do not own the concept or characters from the movie, "The Covenant." Any other characters not related to the movie, are mine and are NOT to be used in any other fan fictions. I also don't own any other things you recognize. _**

**Author Note: **_Hey all, here's chapter 17. Sorry, I updated a bit later. I'm planning on updating again over the weekend again :) I hope you all enjoy!_

_**Please don't forget to review!** __Thank you for reading and **thanks so much to my loyal readers and reviewers. **I greatly appreciate the feedback! You guys are amazing! Enjoy! -IB_

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We sat in the driveway of my cousin's house, just sitting in silence. We'd only finished eating about thirty minutes ago at the house. Reid and I had decided that staying in would have been a better idea. With much difficulty, I had managed to get into the shower and wash my hair thoroughly on my own, although I had needed help at first to actually get my tank top off again. Right now, I was in a very loose shirt, I had already stuck my bra on so that there was one last thing I had to worry about getting on sufficiently. Sweatpants hung low on my hips.

Reid already had put on his pants and somewhat dressy shirt. His jacket lay in the backseat near my dress that was still in its package. Not surprisingly enough, his fingerless gloves adorned his hands and it amused me nonetheless. No matter what, Reid remained himself through anything and it made me smile. The day had went by pretty quickly and I wondered if it was because we all were sort of dreading tonight's outcome.

"You ready to go in, baby?" he asked, squeezing my hand that was under his on the shifter. I could still feel the warmth of his hand through the glove.

I sighed before nodding. "Yeah, let's go."

Reid looked concerned. "Don't think about it, okay? We're all going to have a good time tonight and Caleb's going to come back and we're all going to celebrate his birthday and go out after the dance."

I nodded again and managed a small smile.

A grin came across Reid's face. "Hey, while you were in the shower, I talked to Tyler. He says he has a date. He's meeting her there."

My eyes widened and a real smile pulled at the corner of my mouth. "Really? Oh my God! That's great, I knew he'd find somebody!" I was brimming with excitement. I couldn't wait to meet this girl.

"Relax, Rox," Reid said chuckling. "Don't go planning his wedding or anything. It's just a date."

"I know, I know, but still," I replied practically grinning from ear to ear.

"You're damn cute when you're all excited like that," he muttered, bringing his lips to mine. We shared a soft, sweet kiss and when we broke apart Reid kept me close, whispering against my lips. "I love you."

I couldn't stop the smile that came over my face. There was no stopping it despite the dreary atmosphere of the night and I sort of felt guilty for feeling so happy. "I love you, too." I kissed his cheek.

"We'd better go before Caleb gets suspicious about why we've been sitting here in the car for so long. Then he'll really want to kill me," he said referring to our conversation the other day in study hall, a smirk on his face.

I snorted, trying to hold back my giggles. "Oh, shut up."

He let my hand go and I opened my door. Reid was quick though, and was already on the other side of the car, holding the door open and offering me his hand again.

I smiled in appreciation and he shut the door. Getting my dress and his jacket from the back, he and I walked to the front of the house and as Reid was about to knock, I threw the door (unlocked by the way) open. "Honey, I'm home!" I shouted ignoring the pain in my ribs as the muscles clenched from my yell.

Walking farther into living room, Sarah leapt off of the couch and flung herself at me, trapping me in a hug.

"Hey, Sar," I said wincing slightly with a yelp before patting her back. It wasn't her fault; she didn't know that I just had the bruising of my life this morning. The yelp was obviously taken as surprise and not as a response to the pain I was now in. "How are you doing?"

"I'm okay. You knew the whole time," she said, pulling back. It wasn't a question, but a statement. Apparently Caleb had already filled her in on that part.

I nodded. "Sorry, but I couldn't tell you."

"Does Kate know?" she asked curiously, like the thought just occurred to her.

I shook my head. "As far as I know, no, she doesn't."

Behind me Reid confirmed with an agreeing sound. Caleb came out of the kitchen looking agitated. He was already dressed in his dress clothes for the dance, including a tie, which I couldn't have possibly gotten Reid to wear. His mother followed after him, a silent plea in her eyes. No one wanted him to go really, but Caleb never was one to not own up to his responsibility and he saw this as one of those times. His mind was clearly made up and there wasn't anything any of us could do to change that. The doorbell rang and I looked at the two of them expectantly.

"Tyler," Caleb said before motioning for us to head upstairs.

Meanwhile, I went over to the door to let Ty in. He kissed my cheek in a greeting and looked just as stressed as the rest of us. He was wearing a dress pants, a nice shirt, and a jacket. He followed me upstairs to where Caleb stood in his room, leaning against his dresser. Sarah sat on the bed, curled up in a pair of comfy looking jeans against the headboard. Reid sat at the edge of the bed and when I walked in, he waved me over to him. I went to sit down next to him, only to be pulled onto his lap, one arm around my back, the other hand on my knee. Tyler closed the door and leaned against it as we waited for Caleb to speak.

He rubbed a hand over his face. "Mother's driving me insane about this whole thing, so I thought it'd be better to talk up here where she can't here us. I want you guys to go to the dance, take Sarah with you and I'll be there as soon as I can." We all nodded and the atmosphere got darker. "I wish it was different guys, but it isn't. It has to be me and that's that."

"You gonna be okay though?" I asked frowning slightly.

"This is the only option I have. I'll be fine."

Certainly it wasn't the _only_ option, but Caleb would never accept the alternative: having Uncle James will him his share of the power. It would be like he was stooping to Chase's level and he would never want to be like that. It wasn't Caleb's style to drag others into his problem.

"You and Sarah should probably go get ready," Caleb said, ending the discussion and looking at Sarah and me.

I nodded. Caleb, Tyler, and Reid were already dressed for the dance. Hopping off of Reid's lap I kissed him quickly before Sarah and I filed out of the room and to my room, me leading the way. Her dress was already hanging up on my closet door and I had my own dress in my hands. Reid had handed it back to me before I left the room.

"How are you holding up?" I asked as she shut the door.

She sighed. "As good as I'll ever. It's just kind of startling, you know?" she asked as she started getting undressed leaving her in her bra and panties. She headed into the bathroom, flipping the light on.

"Help yourself to anything you need," I told her following suit and carefully removing the shirt, trying not to smudge the concealer that I had applied on thickly to hide the bruises. They weren't as prominent on my back as they were on my sides and the front of my body. The dress wouldn't show too much since whatever wasn't covered by the dress was concealed under the cover-up. I walked into the bathroom and leaned against the doorframe, watching as she worked on getting her hair up into tight bun.

"I know it all seems scary, but they're really the same people you knew before, or at least you thought you knew entirely. They're just male witches," I said, trying to be comforting in such a situation.

Okay so that didn't sound very ordinary either… but it was the only way I could explain things were alright. They weren't demons or the devil, just witches. Not big deal, at least not to me. "Listen, I remember when I first found out. I didn't take it the best, but eventually I came around. I love them and the power doesn't change the person they are, even after Caleb ascends, he'll still be the same person. The power's tempting, itching to be used, whispering in the back of the users mind, but Caleb's strong and he won't let it get to him."

She looked over and smiled. "I know. Caleb's really special to me, but it's going to take me a little time to get used to all of this."

I smiled back. "He'll understand if you need a little space. Here, let me help you," I said coming up behind her and grabbing the failed attempt at a bun. "Do you want it in the middle of you head?" I asked, smoothing her hair back into a ponytail.

She nodded and grinned sheepishly in the mirror. "Thanks, doing hair has never really been a strong point of mine. It takes me forever to get it the way I want it."

"No problem," I replied, taking some pins out of my drawer and fastening the bun in place on her head. "There you go. It's always easier to do somebody else's hair than your own." Luckily the lighting in the bathroom wasn't very good, and I wondered if Sarah might have been able to see my bruises if it had been brighter.

She grinned widely. "Thanks, Roxi, it really looks great," she said moving her head side to side in the mirror. "I'm gonna go get my dress on. Shouldn't really take us too long to get ready."

I shook my head, taking her place in front of the mirror and plugging in the curling iron. "Nope, not really. I have to curl my hair and get my dress on and that's it."

My hair of course was curly, but I liked to have the curls more controlled and neat looking for special occasions. It would take a lot longer than I wanted it to take, and it was hard to lift my arms to high above my head, but I had taken enough aspirin that the pain had dulled a little bit. My dress was pretty formfitting and I would probably end up needing Sarah's help to actually get it on, regardless of my bruised ribs. I had needed help at the store as well, it was just meant to be that way. The hardest part was getting it over my hips and finally zipping it up. Sarah and I kept up a strong stream of chatter and when I had finally finished with my hair, Sarah had already gotten her gown on, but needed help zipping it up in the back.

It was about five o'clock now and I turned the curling iron off. It had taken me longer than I thought it would, since I had to keep taking small breaks periodically to rest my arms and my sides. Make-up would come next since the heat from the curling iron would have melted it all off by now. I didn't plan on putting that much on anyway. Getting my dress on was a big pain in the ass and several times I had considered having Reid come in and use to get it bigger and then smaller. I didn't like the idea of him using so much lately, but I hadn't really helped and I wasn't going to reprimand him for trying to help me. Once things were better, he wouldn't have to use so much, I didn't want it to turn into a habit for him again. Eventually after struggling and lots of laughter, we finally managed to get the dress on me and zipped up on the side after I tore off the stick on bra (the dress was tight enough, that I really didn't need it, it was practically a bra in itself) and Sarah grinned, shaking her head at me.

"Are you trying to tease Reid?" she asked amusement in her voice.

I looked at myself in the mirror and shook my head at her. "No. Why? Does it look like I am?" To be honest, and I didn't want to sound conceited because I wasn't, but I thought I looked really good.

She nodded and began putting her heels on. "I think it looks really pretty though even if you do look like a Russian spy."

I grinned, laughing at her comment. "Thanks, Sar. I think you look amazing. You're going to knock Caleb off his feet when he sees you."

Sarah blushed lightly. "I hope so."

I threw on my strappy black heels and grabbed a leather jacket that I could wear outside against the chilly weather. "Ready?"

We headed downstairs, hearing Auntie Evelyn speaking to Caleb about Uncle James. She clearly wanted him to go to my uncle and speak with him about willing Caleb his power. As much as she loved her husband, she thought he was selfish for letting the power consume his life, ignoring his family near the end when his addiction really started to get bad. I remember her speaking to my mom about it when we were still kids. I think she'd always resent him for that. He abandoned his family for the love of the power. And that's why Caleb wanted nothing, but to become the exact opposite of his father. He saw him and vowed once out loud that he would never become his father.

As we approached the middle of the stairs, all sets of eyes looked up. Mine darted from face to face, landing on Reid. His expression was unexplainable. It looked like a cross between adoration and awe, but I could have easily been wrong; there may or may not have been a tiny bit of lust in his gaze. I watched as his eyes slid over me. I smiled shyly in response, but inside I was grinning happily.

Auntie Ev smiled from her spot next to Caleb. "You look lovely, girls."

I smiled gratefully before taking Reid's outstretched hand. He pulled me close. "You look gorgeous, babe." He kissed me softly and I heard light chatter behind us. They weren't paying us any attention really which was nice because I wanted to enjoy this moment him and him alone.

"Thank you," I replied smiling and kissing him again.

Nobody bothered with pictures and it was only a few more minutes before we all began filing out of the house, Caleb's mother had retired to her room after bidding us a goodnight and telling us to please be safe. I figured it was her only way to cope. We had almost reached the door when Reid stopped us, pulling me flush against him, front to back. Everyone else went out the door and out to the truck. We decided to take Tyler's Hummer, so I figured they were headed out there near the end of the driveway.

"Reid?" I asked, as a hand trailed down my bare spine, leaving a tingling, burning path in their wake. His hands ran down my sides to my hips, where they rested before flexing and holding my hips tightly against his.

His mouth was by my ear breathing hot air that made me shiver. "You look very beautiful tonight, Roxi," he whispered before biting my earlobe gently. "Very sexy in this dress, almost too sexy, babe."

"Reid," I said warningly. The others were going to wonder where the hell we were and if they came back in here and saw us like this, well we'd never hear the end of it. Plus he was being such a tease.

He chuckled lightly against my neck as he trailed his lips down to my shoulder blade. "I can barely keep my hands off of you." One of his hands ran down my hip to the slit up the side of my dress that stopped near the top of my leg. He slid his hand along my naked thigh, barely brushing against the black cheeky boyshorts I was wearing under my dress.

A tremor ran through me. "You're teasing me, Reid," I told him closing my eyes and nearly losing my breath. I was sexually frustrated enough, I didn't need him to add to it and bring it back up again. Especially since he didn't want to do anything until I was healed up and all of this was over.

"Nah, I plan on owning up to all the teasing soon enough, babe." His lips trailed back up my neck. His tongue flicked out and he licked my neck before blowing on it.

A hot thrill shook me lightly. He wasn't playing fair and if he wanted to play like that, than so would I. I was going to give him a taste of his own damn medicine. I was feeling very bold due to my agitation as my panties dampened. Reaching back I slid my hand in between our bodies and pressed it flat against the fly of his pants earning a harsh gasp from Reid against my neck. I smiled in satisfaction, happy that I was getting my revenge as his lust stirred beneath the fabric.

"Rox," he said softly, groaning lowly as I brought my hand across him in one stroke. He reached down and grabbed my hand, stilling it.

"What's the matter, baby? You don't want me to _stop_ do you?" I asked, teasingly moaning and looking back at him.

He shut his eyes tightly and groaned again. "Okay, point taken." He moved my hand back to my side and took a deep breath as he placed his hands innocently on my waist again. "Come on before they come looking for us."

I smiled, taking a deep breath of my own to settle down. Turning around in his grip, I placed a kiss on his cheek and a throat was cleared behind me. I jumped in surprise and turned to see Tyler looking at us expectantly.

"Can you guys save making out for later. We have to get going," he said rolling his eyes.

"Calm the hell down, Baby Boy. You need to get laid tonight by your date, cause you're way too uptight," Reid replied.

I snorted and shook my head when Ty's cheeks turned pink and he looked annoyed. "Shut up, dude."

Sarah and Caleb were saying their goodbyes and I silently wondered why nobody gave them any shit about standing there and kissing. I threw on my leather jacket hoping that it would fight against the cold of the night and Reid put his arm around me. Leaving Reid's side, I interrupted Caleb and Sarah's moment as politely as I could in order to say goodbye to my cousin. Whether it was forever or a few hours, I wanted to be sure that I got to say goodbye.

"Be careful, Cal," I said as we embraced.

"I will. Take care of yourself at the dance. Don't let Reid take advantage of you in that dress," he said sternly, but I could sense a smile in his voice.

I gave him one last squeeze then pulled back to kissed his cheek. "Be safe. I'll see you later."

Saying that I would see him later would make the idea of him possibly leaving for good a little more bearable. I had to have faith that Caleb could take care of himself against Chase. I had to give him the benefit of the doubt or I wouldn't be a very good cousin. It didn't mean that I would still worry though. It was my job as his family to worry until I drove myself crazy. Reid came back over, throwing his arm over my shoulder and kissing the top of my head. I snuggled into his side as we made our way to the Hummer and when we reached the truck, we hopped in and I curled up close to him, breathing in his scent.

"You really do look beautiful. I know I already said that, but I mean it. I can hardly take my eyes off of you," he mumbled against my hair.

I smiled as I nuzzled my face against his neck. "I thought you couldn't keep your hands off of me? Now it's your eyes too?" I asked playfully.

He chuckled. "What can I say? I'm just drawn to you, Roxi."

Tyler opened the door and got in to drive as Sarah took the passenger seat, leaving Reid and I alone in the back. The drive back to Spenser for the Fall Fest was pretty quiet for the exception of the occasional comment about the weather or the people going to be there. Our minds were all somewhere completely different, but mostly on the same subject as each other. We were all worried about Caleb and it was taking up our thoughts.

"So what's the plan? We going in or we hanging outside where it's cold?" I asked my companions.

Next to me, Reid shrugged. "Caleb wants us to keep an eye on Sarah, but I figure where ever we go is fine."

Upon arriving at the Fall Fest, Tyler found a decent parking spot and we all got out, Reid taking my hand as we walked across the parking lot towards the school. Music could be heard and several groups of students were out on the lawn chatting animatedly, some holding their girlfriend or boyfriend in the cold.

"So where's this girl at Ty?" I asked. "We could have picked her up, you know?"

Tyler shook his head. "Our heads weren't in the right place to have here riding along with us. Besides, she was already at the dorms getting ready, so it she said it was no big deal."

I smiled. "She sounds cool already." She sounded pretty laid back and I started thinking that even though I hadn't met this girl, she seemed like a possible respectable match for Tyler. He didn't need some uptight bitch nagging him and it was supposed to be sort of like a first date I guess, so the more relaxed the better. "Can't wait to meet her."

He grinned anxiously. "Yeah, she's great."

Across from next to me, Sarah smiled along with me at the happy expression on Tyler's face.

Reid's phone went off, any irritating ring. I think I was beginning to associate that ring with being agitated. Last time Reid and I were close to having sex, that damn phone rang with that obnoxious ring and I hated it. Almost as much as I hated Chase, which brought me to my next thought: Who was calling Reid? Caleb?

"Hello?" he asked, bringing the phone to his ear.

"Yeah, sure, she's right here," Reid replied to whatever Caleb's question was. He turned and looked at Sarah… or at least where Sarah had been. She was gone. "Where'd she go?"

I frowned and looked confusedly at the spot she had been standing. "I don't know. She was right here."

Tyler looked just as perplexed as we were. Apparently he hadn't seen her go anywhere either.

"Maybe she went to the bathroom?" I suggested, dread pitting in my stomach. Where could she be? It wasn't like Sarah to not say anything. She would have mentioned something before she left, especially this all of this going on.

Reid shrugged before he frowned. "Caleb? Caleb?" he called into the phone, but there was no answer. He hung up looking like he was feeling the same dread as I was.

"I could check the bathroom," I said. "Maybe it's too much for her and she's sick, or her stomach's upset?" It was better to think that, than the worst.

"We have to find her for Caleb," Tyler told me, looking around us. "I'll check around the courtyard."

"You don't think Chase has her, do you?" I asked Reid when Tyler had walked off.

He gripped my hand tighter. "I don't know, baby. She might just be around here somewhere."

"I can take the girl's bathroom and part of the gym," I said as we hurriedly walked towards the school entrance, keeping our eyes open for the blonde girl.

Reid shook his head. "No, we're not splitting up."

"Well, you can't very well go into the girl's bathroom with me."

He sighed, but still sounded determined. "I'll wait outside then. I want you in and out of there as quickly as possible, Rox. I'm serious."

I nodded. "Don't worry; it's not that big of a bathroom anyway."

Walking father down the hallway, we came to another hallway, turning to go down it. On the right was the bathroom, looking mildly deserted. With my hand on the door, I dropped Reid's hand as a buddy named Steven from the swim team spotted Reid, calling to him and coming over to talk. Reid smiled tightly in response as he approached us, nodding a greeting.

"Thirty seconds," I assured him, planting a kiss on his cheek. I pushed the door open looking around at first and seeing two girls in dresses washing their hands and fixing their hair. "Sarah?" I called. It was quiet with no response. The two girls I had seen in the bathroom left. "Sarah?"

If this was where she was, I would have caught her in time before she left, after all Reid and I had practically ran here. Suddenly I was pushed against the bathroom wall. I tried to scream for help, but no sound came out of my open mouth. A force was being pressed against my back and a dark chuckling started in my ear. "Fancy meeting you here. Scream all you want nobody's going to here you. That's the joy of having all of this power."

Turning my head as much as I could, I didn't see anything or anyone in the bathroom with me. Just Chase's voice; that hauntingly menacing voice.

"You, my darling Roxanne, are going to help me in a little bit of bargaining, just in case that cousin of yours backs out. Don't worry, Sarah's already there waiting for you and you'll see Caleb soon enough, or rather _he'll_ see you both soon enough. What's better than bargaining with one life? Two lives!" He chuckled darkly again.

I struggled to get free from the invisible force, my eyes feeling heavy and that evil laughter continuing on. Slowly my world, or what I could see of it, faded to black and there was nothing I could do.


	18. Waking up to You

**Disclaimer_: I do not own the concept or characters from the movie, "The Covenant." Any other characters not related to the movie, are mine and are NOT to be used in any other fan fictions. I also don't own any other things you recognize. _**

**Author Note: **_Hey guys, here's a REALLY late chapter 18. I'm so sorry for the prolonged delay. I've been sick and so super busy that I didn't get a chance to write it over the weekend. I could have rushed, but I didn't want to post up something crappy with a lot of errors and nonsensical events, so I waited. This chapter is sort of a filler for the next chapters. To make it up to all you, I will be updating very soon, no later than Sunday the 25th. __I hope you all enjoy! :) Thanks for sticking with me guys, even though I make you wait forever sometimes for an update._

_**Please don't forget to review!** __Thank you for reading and **thanks so much to my loyal readers and reviewers. **I greatly appreciate the feedback! You guys are amazing! Enjoy! -IB_

* * *

Heat was all around me. It was all I could feel, yet it was like I was encased in some sort of bubble, because I could hear nothing. I briefly wondered what was going on, but I didn't feel like moving or opening my eyes to take a look around. I wasn't even sure if I could if I tried. The toasty warmth was increasing in temperature, but I didn't mind. I was cold for some reason and then suddenly I was _really_ cold. Wet. Something was hitting me that was wet. A shower? Had I fallen asleep in the shower? It had been known to nearly happen after I had stayed up late all night. A shower was relaxing enough to feel like taking a nap in. But this was cold water. Had all the hot water run out? That was strange because I honestly didn't remember getting in the shower in the first place.

Somebody was speaking, but I didn't know who. The voice sounded dearly familiar. My name. Somebody was calling my name softly as the water continued to drip on me. I finally I opened my eyes groggily to see Reid's face inches from mine. He looked worried and his hair was dripping wet. It was raining, I realized and I was outside. A slight orange light shown from behind him. Then it all hit me, as he looked relieved. _Chase_. Chase had, I don't know, done something to make me pass out in the bathroom, but where were we now? What happened?

Sitting up quickly, I flew into Reid's arms. I noticed that I was sitting on some sort of wooden trailer or something filled with hay. Looking behind him, I saw Putnam barn on fire. Caleb and Sarah were speaking quietly nearby. Reid embraced me tightly and nuzzled his face against my ear.

"It's okay, Rox. You're safe now. Chase is gone. Caleb took care of him," he muttered as I buried my face in his shoulder inhaling the familiar, calming scent.

"How did I get here?" I asked quietly.

Reid pulled back and kissed my forehead, both cheeks, and finally my lips. "I don't know. Chase zapped you here or something. Everything's fine now though. Are you alright? I checked you over already, but are you hurt?" he questioned.

I sat for a moment just trying to get in tune with my body, I presently felt out of it. There didn't seem to be any impending aches or anything, so I assumed I was alright. Shaking my head, I pulled him close and kissed him. "How did _you_ get here?"

He smiled. "I took Ty's truck. I needed to make sure you were okay. I made a promise to you, babe."

I smiled in return. "So it's all over?"

Wet footsteps approached us and I saw Caleb and Sarah. Her hair was down out of the bun I had fixed in her hair and her shoulder's were adorned with my cousin's jacket. "It's all over," Caleb confirmed.

Reid stepped back and helped me hop down from the wagon thing. I pulled Caleb in for a hug before doing the same with Sarah. "Thank God," I said. "How'd you do it?"

Caleb's smile faltered a bit. "My father."

I was confused for a second and then understanding hit me like a brick. My eyes widened slightly before I furrowed my brow sadly. Uncle James had finally proven himself as a father, yet it took his life and was the only way he knew how. It was tragic, yet a blessing that he chose that particular moment to stop being selfish and absorbed in his love for the power. I wondered if my aunt had had anything to do with it. I knew she didn't want Caleb to die, and what better way to save his life than to have his father give up what appeared to have meant the most to him.

"Sorry," I said quietly.

Caleb shook his head. "Let's get out of the rain. I'll call the fire department in a bit." Even in a circumstance such as this Caleb remained my same responsible cousin, alerting the authorities.

"What are we going to tell them?" Sarah asked as we all walked back to Ty's hummer. She had a point. They'd be over quickly after we called, so it was best if we had a plan before then. Reid threw his jacket over my shoulders before taking my hand in his. We all quickly got into the truck. Reid turned over the engine and flipped the heat on high, to dry us. Reaching back and finding my leather jacket right where I had left it in the back seat, I brought it upfront with me and tossed it over my legs.

"I don't know yet. Just an accident I guess. We'll say he was drinking and we came up here to get him. And, I don't know, he started the fire or something and as we were getting out, he fell and didn't make it out in time," Caleb suggested shrugging.

"Sounds good to me," I commented, snuggling into Reid's jacket. I leaned back against the passenger seat and sighed. "I'm just so glad it's finally over."

Caleb made the call about a half an hour after that. We just watched the Putnam barn as it continued to burn to the ground, slowly being put out by the downpour. The police said they'd be over shortly, but in this weather and the distance, it would be a while before they actually got there. I brushed my wet hair back from my face and sighed again. Everything on me was completely soaked, but I was just glad to be alive. Not only that, but everyone was alive. I couldn't be disappointed that I missed the Fall Fest or that I was chilled to the bone with my wet dress, because we all had our lives. That was something to be happy about. We sat in silence for nearly another twenty minutes before it was disturbed by flashing lights and a siren through the trees.

"You guys better get going. It'll be easier to explain if it were just Sarah and I here," Caleb said opening the door as he and Sarah started getting out of the car. "It might look too suspicious otherwise."

"Wait, are you sure?" Reid asked turning around in the seat to see Caleb.

"Yeah, I'm serious. Just go. We'll see you guys tomorrow, just go home and get some rest." He closed the door and Reid put the Hummer in drive, pulling away speedily in the opposite direction from the now smoldering barn and fire truck.

I held Reid's hand in mine on my lap, tracing patterns on the back of his hand with my free hand. "We should probably swing by and pick up Ty so we can switch out the cars at Caleb's, no?" I asked quietly.

"Probably, but we can do it tomorrow. We wouldn't want to bother him and his date. I wonder if he even got to hang out with that girl. He's been pretty uptight lately, so hopefully he let loose a little, if you catch my drift," he said, a smirk on his face.

I shook my head, fighting an amused grin. "You're ridiculous."

"Thanks. I'm happy to see you, too," he replied, a smile in his voice. "But really, I'm glad you're okay."

"Me too. I'm happy you're here." I leaned over the consol to kiss his cheek.

* * *

It took us some time to get back to Reid's house so that I could change into some normal clothes and out of the dress that I wasted a night on. Fucking Chase. I was glad he was finally gone. On our way over, Reid had called Tyler who said he was relieved to hear that everything went well and that we were all okay. He also said that he was on his way to walking his date, Amy, to her dorm room. Reid and I could pick him up in the morning before heading over to my cousin's house. I was disappointed that I didn't even get a chance to meet the girl so I hoped things went well. I would like to eventually get to know her. Ty was usually a pretty good judge of character, so if he liked her, she must have been great.

I was curious as to whether or not we'd be celebrating Caleb's birthday later on, even in the solemn circumstance as my uncle's death. I also wondered how my aunt was doing right now. I was sure that she knew. I was also pretty sure that the cops would keep Sarah and Caleb at the remains of Putnam barn for quite a while for questioning. Especially if there was a dead body involved.

Reid closed the front door behind us and swept me up into his arms to my surprise. I yelped and looked up at him as he ascended the stairs, but he only grinned down at me.

"You don't need to carry me. I'm perfectly capable of walking, you know," I told him, holding my leather while his jacket kept me warm in the house.

"I know." Was the only reply I received.

When we reached his room, Reid set me down on my feet. "Well," I started, looking up at him. "If you're looking to be so helpful, could you unzip me?" I turned around and lifted my arm, so that he could get the zipper.

"Sure." His warm fingers brushed across the skin on my neck and trailed down on an angle until they hit the zipper of my dress. He pulled it down to the end of the track. Reid kissed my neck, his lips just ghosting over my skin, giving me goosebumps. "You should probably get out of these wet clothes. You want to borrow anything?"

I shook my head as I slipped (well, it was more like shoved the best that I could) the dress down to my feet. The cool air hit my damp body and I shivered, wrapping my arms around myself for warmth. Reid was by his dresser drawers, sifting through them.

"Here," he said, tossing me a black pair of sweatpants which I realized were mine. I caught them, hurriedly pulling them onto my cold legs. A pair of socks flew my way and I picked them up off the ground, walking over to the bed to put them on. Now, my feet were nice and toasty, warming up quickly. I hopped off of the bed and went over to the drawers where my boyfriend was looking adamantly through.

"What are you looking for?" I asked curiously.

"Just some different clothes. Tired of wearing this suit," he mumbled, grabbing a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, finally giving up and looking over at me.

I smiled when his eyes met mine. "I thought you looked kinda sexy," I said getting a green long sleeved shirt before walking over to the chair where I kept that sweatshirt of Reid's.

He chuckled from across the room. I pulled the shirt on over my head, noticing that as I pulled it down over my torso, my ribs were a bit less bruised. I wondered if it had something to do with Chase being gone? Like maybe part of the pain and bruises were from Chase's presence in the world. Like a spell or something. I was probably wrong, but it was just a thought.

I pulled on the hooded sweatshirt, enjoying the warmth. Sighing, I crawled into the center of the bed and under the covers, snuggling into the pillows. I heard Reid changing into his sweatpants that he'd pulled out of the drawer as I closed my eyes briefly, taking a deep relaxing breath. He must have changed quickly because I felt his body weight on the bed, and then he was moving under the covers to embrace me from behind. His body heat warmed me up quicker than the socks. Reid planted a gentle kiss just below my ear and I curled up, cuddling back against him.

"I'm really happy you're okay, baby," he said quietly into my ear.

I smiled even though he couldn't see it and wrapped my arms over his arms, lacing my fingers through his. "So you've said."

"Well, I am," he replied, nuzzling his face against my neck. "Sorry, we didn't even get to dance."

I shrugged. "It's no big deal. I'm sure we'll get another chance."

"I especially liked your dress tonight. A lot."

"Thanks. Sarah claimed that I looked like a Russian spy."

He laughed out right, his body shaking against mine. "You did. Honey, if you were a spy looking like that, I'd spill any secrets you wanted."

I laughed too, grinning to myself. "Hmm, good to know."

A ring I recognized as Reid's house phone went off. "I'll get it," he mumbled as he rolled off of the bed. He disappeared out of the bedroom door and into (I assumed at least) into his parents room. The ringing stopped and I heard Reid's muffled voice speaking into the receiver.

"Don't worry, we were up. Yeah, no everything's fine here, Mom. How're things there?" he asked sitting down on the edge of the bed, the phone to his ear.

I crawled over to him and wrapped my arms around his shoulders, kissing his bare shoulder blade. Glancing over to the alarm clock next to the bed, I saw that it was really late; near two o'clock in the morning. Where the hell had the time gone? I couldn't believe that so much time had passed. We couldn't have been at Putnam barn for that long, right?

I listened intently to the voice of Reid's mother on the other line before yawning quietly. The sound sort of reminded me of my mom and it made me miss her and my dad. If only they knew the shit that had been happening in the past few days. They'd totally flip the fuck out and ship me back to Chicago. Or maybe they'd move back to Ipswich. I guess I wouldn't know until I actually told them. I wasn't so sure if telling them was the best thing to do. They'd find out eventually if Auntie Ev called my mom to talk or something. She'd no doubt tell them. And then what would happen? I could only hope for the best, but I know they'd be pissed if I didn't tell them first.

Reid took one of my hands and silently pressed his lips to it as he listened to her talk. From the other line, Heather Garwin was speaking a quick pace about what I assumed was their trip so far. It made things feel normal, which was a nice change from all the crazy shit that had been happening lately.

"That sounds great," he said to whatever it was she was saying. "Yeah the house is fine. Rox and I have been watching it." A brief pause. "No, no wild parties, mom, just Roxanne and me."

I snorted softly. "That's a wild party in itself," I muttered. I saw the corner of Reid's mouth twitch up in response.

"No, it's alright, go out to breakfast. We have some stuff to do anyway. Listen, there's something I need to talk to dad about later. Can you just tell him that I'll call him in about seven hours or later? Will it be too late over there?" he asked, frowning slightly.

"Alright, I'll talk to you guys later. I will. Bye." Pressing the off button on the phone, Reid set it down on the nightstand and turned in my arms to kiss me. "Mom says 'hi'."

I beamed cheerfully. I really loved Reid's parents. Even though they could be a bit hard on Reid (honestly, sometimes he needed it), they were good friendly people (well at least to me) and they were respectable parents. Despite all of his rebelling, Reid actually had a pretty decent relationship with Heather and Randy. Not that he would go telling either of them about all of his sexual encounters with girls, but I was sure they had a hunch about it to some extent just by the talk of the town or from the way he acted. Even more so now that they knew I was staying here with him. I had a feeling that the pool house was used for more than just it's obvious purposes. Especially, if poor Tyler didn't want to get kicked out of his dorm room.

"You're gonna tell your dad?" I asked, pecking his lips.

He nodded. "Yeah. It'll be easier to tell him, than my mom. I'm sure if they were here, he would have felt it, but I think they're too far away."

"That's plausible."

He yawned, and rested his forehead against my shoulder. "Yeah."

I smiled and brushed a hand gently through his hair. "Come on. Let's go to bed," I told him, yawning soon after him.

Reid lifted his head and grinned, before his arms snaked around my midsection and he lifted me into the center of the bed, following after me. "Sounds like a great idea."

He kissed my forehead before lifting the covers over us and pulling me close. He reached back and switched the lamp off on the bedside table. Yawning again, Reid groaned quietly as he shifted to get comfortable on the bed. I sighed, closing my eyes and relaxing in his protective embrace. I laid a kiss on his chest before mumbling a "good night" and nodding off.

As I fell into a well deserved slumber, I heard him mutter that he loved me. Life was good.

* * *

I awoke the next morning feeling pretty refreshed. I slept soundly and deeply, without any interruptions. It was nice and something that I had really needed after the tiny amount of sleep yesterday, plus the hectic day. I couldn't help but to smile brightly as the sun streamed through the blinds in Reid's room. I loved him to pieces right down that familiar smirk that hardly ever seemed to leave his face. He looked peaceful; breathing evenly as he slept and dreamed about God only knew what.

I didn't want to wake him from his rest, so I tried my best to slip out of his arms. It was _not_ easy. That boy had a steel grip even when he was unconscious and it nearly made me laugh out and wake him as I tried to pry myself from his hold. Finally, I managed to slide out of reach and off the bed. Reid groaned and rolled over. Damn, I couldn't believe that he was out like a light. I guess yesterday was just as stressful for him as it was for the rest of us. Possibly more when I vanished or whatever. Poor baby, he was such a good boyfriend. It made me feel lucky for having him.

The Garwin house was silent, save for a few obnoxious birds chirping outside the window. In Chicago, there had been annoying birds as well, but they were mostly pigeons though. Nothing too special. Here, the birds were cute and little, plus they didn't swarm around you looking for scraps of food which was nice. Now that I think about it, they sound like they have rather sad lives, don't they? Poor little guys.

Making my way to the bathroom, I washed my face and brushed my teeth waking myself up a bit more. I thought I'd take a shower to start my day off. Taking my shirt off, I saw that my ribs looked better and I really wasn't that sore anymore. Maybe just a little bit if I was being honest with myself, but it was hardly as bad as before. It felt like I had been working out on my obliques or something; that kind of soreness along my ribs. The shower was quick and another addition to my refreshing morning. I used a tasty smelling shampoo scented with coconut. As I blow-dried my hair the aroma floated around, reaching my nose and making me smile.

I wrapped a towel around me and grabbed my dirty clothes from the floor. Opening the door, I tossed my clothes into Reid's hamper near the door. I'd wash those later, but for now it was necessary for me to actual get clean clothes on. I couldn't walk around in a towel all day. Not to mention, I was freezing my ass off. The bathroom had been steamy and warm from my shower and now that I was out in the open cold room, I wished to go back in and close the door. I rifled around in the dresser drawer for clean clothes to wear for the day.

"Well, isn't that a lovely sight in the morning. Could I wake up to you in a towel every day?" Reid asked from his spot on the bed causing me to jump from the sudden speech. I hadn't really checked to see if he was awake or not.

I turned to grin at him, seeing a mirroring one on his face already. Peeking over at the clock, I saw it was 9:37. "Good morning," I said setting my clothes down on the bed and crawling onto the bed carefully to kiss him.

"A _very_ good morning, babe," he mumbled against my mouth. He placed both hands on my face as his lips met mine. He tasted like mint and it made me wonder if he had been up earlier and brushed his teeth before I got out of the shower. Reid threaded his fingers through my semi-dry hair and his thumb from his other hand, brushed softly along my cheek. He broke the kiss and pressed his lips to my forehead. "Especially with you naked underneath that," he said, referring to the towel that was slipping slightly.

I readjusted it, smiling. "I love you," I said softly.

He grinned. "I love you, too, Rox. Breakfast?"

"Sure, what do you want?" I asked, sliding away from him, to get my clothes.

"I was actually offering to make _you_ breakfast before we go over to Caleb's," he replied getting off of the bed and heading towards the door. He leaned on the door frame waiting for my response.

"Oh, are you sure?" I walked over to the bathroom and shut the door partially while I got dressed.

"Yeah. Pancakes?" he called.

"That sounds great, Reid. Thanks!" I said, smiling as I pulled on another pair of sweatpants and a white tank top over my white laced bra.

I met him downstairs shortly. He was adorable, standing over the stove flipping pancakes. It made my heart swell with love at the very sight. He slightly burned one or two of them on the plate, but I thought it was still the cutest thing. Reid was standing there, his face focused on the task at hand. He looked amazing as always, no shirt and loose grey sweatpants hanging low on his hips. Kind of made me wish I was having him for breakfast instead. Wow… did I really think that? Maybe Reid and I really _did_ belong together. That certainly would have been a comment made by him. It almost made me laugh out loud for the second time today and I'm sure that Reid would have thought I was crazy.

"Hey, smells great," I said dropping a kiss on his warm shoulder as I passed him on my way to the island. I hopped up on the stool and spun around on it to watch him flip the current pancake in the pan.

"Thanks, baby. Caleb called earlier when you were in the shower. They just got home, so they want us to head over there around 10:30, so it gives us enough time to eat. I'm gonna jump in the shower quick after I have a few pancakes," he told me, bringing a plate of pancakes over to the island. He took a seat next to me at the island and put two pancakes onto my plate.

After a fast breakfast, Reid took a swift shower before meeting me in the living room. I got Caleb's present from the bedroom. I had been working on it for a while now, possibly a few months, though I wasn't sure if he'd really like it. A small photo album with pictures of us all as kids, growing up was the initial idea that I came up with and sprung into a large photo album. Not a very good gift for an eighteen-year-old guy, but I figured he could appreciate it just a little. After all, I'd worked my ass of on it.

I figured we'd be celebrating Caleb's birthday, just a little late. And of course, it would be a rather solemn event since his father just died, but I was sure we'd have a bit of fun. I wanted to go and visit Kate and Pogue in the hospital today and so Reid and I planned on going later, maybe bringing them each a cupcake. We'd picked them up yesterday at a bakery in town and I'd been dying to eat them ever since.

We headed over to Caleb's to hear some disquieting news. And here I thought we were about to celebrate.


	19. Visiting

**Disclaimer_: I do not own the concept or characters from the movie, "The Covenant." Any other characters not related to the movie, are mine and are NOT to be used in any other fan fictions. I also don't own any other things you recognize. _**

**Author Note: **_Hey guys, here's chapter 19. It's two days later than I originally wanted to post it up, but I've been having major car problems and that took first priority. I do plan on posting up chapter 20 between Friday night and Sunday. The next chapter will be better, promise; not just a filler and not super short either. __I hope you all enjoy! :) Thanks for sticking with me guys, even though I make you wait forever sometimes for an update!_

_**Please don't forget to review!** __Thank you for reading and **thanks so much to my loyal readers and reviewers. **I greatly appreciate the feedback! You guys are amazing! Enjoy! -IB_

* * *

My jaw dropped in disbelief. "Wait, wait, _what_?" I asked incredulously. Looking over at Reid, I found that he looked just as shocked as I was. "Explain that again."

We were sitting in the living room. Auntie Ev had greeted us all at the doorway, perky as ever, a glass of OJ in her hand. Deep down I wondered if there was a bit of vodka in it, but I hadn't smelled anything on her breath. So that was the first unexpected thing of my day. The second came a bit later when Sarah and Caleb greeted us. She was adorned in one of Caleb's sweatshirts and the look on her face worried me immediately. Caleb tried to assure us after telling us what a firefighter had told him, that it was nothing to really worry about. I still found it hard to believe. How the hell was it possible?

"They couldn't find his body," he repeated sighing at my apparently overdramatic reaction. He was sitting with Sarah on the loveseat opposite Reid and me. Tyler sat in a Lazy Boy recliner. We had picked him up on the way over since we still had his Hummer.

"Well, what does that mean for us then? For Chase?" Was he still alive? Why wouldn't he just die? I swear he reminded me of one of those killers in the movies that gets up even after he's shot six times like Michael Meyers in _Halloween_. God, those were irritating. Creepy and irritating.

"I don't know. The chances are slim that he's actually still alive."

"I thought you said you killed him," Reid commented curiously, sitting next to me on the couch.

Caleb shrugged. "Yeah, I thought I did. Look, they said they'll search over the area again once they start cleaning up the remains. I wouldn't worry too much about it. I don't think he survived."

I sighed and shared a glance with Sarah that said she was just as confused about the entire thing. Why couldn't he just die, nice and simple? It sounded terrible, but I couldn't handle him bothering my family and friends again. It was downright maddening. But if my cousin honestly wasn't too worried about it and thought he was gone for good, then there really wasn't anything to get all worked up about, right?

"Okay, if you say so." I offered him a small smile. "I trust your judgment, Caleb."

He smiled back. I had to say that he looked damn relieved and relaxed now that everything was over. He had been so tense lately, barely smiling. It was nice to see the old Caleb back for change. Time for a subject change. It was still his birthday after all. We just didn't celebrate it yesterday. No reason not to do so today.

"Oh, hey, happy birthday. Late, of course, but I didn't have the heart to give you your gift yesterday. You wouldn't have had a chance to look at it," I replied, handing him the back that had been sitting at my feet. It contained his present that I prayed he liked. He leaned forward and took it with a grin, lifting the wrapped album out of the bag. Tearing the wrapping paper off, he looked back up at me when the album was finally revealed and paper free. "I know, it's kind of cheesy, but it's the thought that counts right?"

Caleb genuinely smiled and opened the book the first page where I had written him a small note about memories and how I was glad to have him as my cousin, my brother, and my friend. I didn't make it too sappy despite the events I wrote it around.

"Thanks, Rox," he said quietly, flipping to the next page. It contained a few photos of us when we were just young kids, playing outside and at Christmas. The later photos would contain the rest of the boys as they came into our lives more and more and we all got closer. I didn't bother with any cute captions. Caleb was an eighteen-year-old boy, remember? That'd be far too girly for my cousin and it was just unnecessary. I didn't think he could forget what was happening in the pictures. He, however, wasn't going to remember the dates on which they pictures were taken. After a while, being around friends long enough and sharing so many memories with them, time just starts to run together.

I wrote the dates underneath the pictures, but names weren't needed. It was pretty obvious who all of us were even as kids. Who could mistake the only blonde for anybody other than Reid? And Tyler, for his timid yet cheerful look? Or Pogue for the crazy happy grin he always had as a kid and that dirty hat he practically never took off? And me, being the only girl? Of course, Caleb could pick out his younger self as well. It was hard _not_ to remember how we were as kids. In the back of the album, were blank pages that we could throw new pictures in later, for instance photos of Sarah and him together. I myself didn't have any, so I couldn't put any in just yet. I figured Sarah would have more fun doing that than Caleb and possibly take over.

We spent the rest of our time letting Sarah in on some of our old memories as we looked at the pictures until lunch was ready. It was nice to sit and reminisce about the old days and I was sure Sarah was happy to be let into our lives more. Sandwiches and the cupcakes we had brought were on the menu for lunch. I wanted to take a cupcake each over to Pogue and Kate, so Reid and I left early in the Chevelle. Caleb and Sarah had went to see him earlier this morning and Ty wanted to get back to the dorms to see Amy before he headed over to the hospital.

Pogue looked pretty happy to see us. In fact, he was almost too happy.

"What'd they give you? Morphine?" I asked, a grin coming to my face as he made a weird face at the cupcake and laughed looking pleased to have some food from the outside. Reid shook his head amused. "You certainly _look _happy."

"I've_ felt_ better, but not too bad actually. I sort of feel tingly," Pogue replied, taking a huge bite out of the cupcake. "Have you seen Kate?"

Ignoring his tingly comment, I shook my head. "No not yet. We're heading over to her room after you. Sarah said she was doing a lot better when she saw her. Up and talking. They're saying she could be released today, but the vanishing spider bites are curious, so they're thinking about keeping her for another day just to be sure. Did they tell you when you can be released?"

"Like into the wild again?" he asked smiling. "Couple of days. They said maybe tomorrow. Tuesday at the latest. I'm tired of being in here already. How's my bike?"

I hesitated. I didn't see it, but I was sure it looked probably just as bad as Pogue himself. "Um…"

"Nothing that can't be fixed. Or bought," Reid added.

Pogue frowned immediately. "That bad, huh?"

"I haven't seen it," I told him patting his unused hand on the bed. "But I'm sure it's not that bad." I was lying of course. I honestly thought that his bike was just as beat up as he was, but I wasn't going to tell him that. Nope. This wasn't supposed to be a sad visit; it was about feeding cupcakes to my morphine injected friend, who clearly had the munchies at the moment. "Like the cupcake?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

Smiling again, he nodded. "Yeah, thanks for bringing it. Did you bake them or something?"

I snorted. "What do I look like? Betty Crocker? No, they're store bought," I teased.

I hadn't really had time to cook anything like that, not with all the stress and time consumption the past few days had led to. I also wasn't really a big fan of baking, or even cooking for that matter. Minor things were more my specialty, but we had a housekeeper that cooked most of our meals at home, so I didn't really have to. A few times at the most, but mostly basic things like Reid. I couldn't cook meat to save my life, but I had a hunched that he used when I wasn't looking to get the steaks just perfect.

He grinned while Reid chuckled beside me. "My parents were here a little while ago," he said.

I raised an eyebrow. "They know about everything, huh? Nobody talked to my parents, right?" I asked quickly.

Pogue shook his head. "No, why? You trying to hide it?"

"Uh, sort of." I wanted to tell them soon, but I was still working on a way to break it to them easily. I hadn't quite thought of anything just yet. I knew as soon as I told them, they'd freak out and want me to come home or something drastic like that. Did I really have to tell them? I already knew the answer to that. If they found out from anybody else, but me I'd be in major trouble. Most likely they'd drag my ass back to Chicago without hesitation even if I was kicking and screaming the whole way back. My parents were just like that.

I loved them to pieces and I thought they were great parents, but sometimes I felt like they overreacted just a bit. But I'm sure that a lot of other teenagers thought the same thing about their parents. And it wasn't that they were super strict, but I was an only child and they had a hard time letting go. I was Daddy's little princess (or at least he used to call me that when I was young). It was hard for them to see me growing up and even harder to think that I was in any kind of situation that could cause me harm just like any other parent.

Speaking of parents, Reid had called his father on the way over to Caleb's. He told him about Chase and everything there was to know. Reid's parents were headed back on the next early flight tomorrow morning, well their tomorrow morning. Auntie Evelyn was going to have a small and very private funeral service for Uncle James now that he really was dead. We had to be careful about it since it would be bad news if it got out that James Danvers III really wasn't dead before as had allegedly been said.

So how to tell them about Chase and everything was my most prominent problem. They didn't need to know about the dream or nightmare, whatever the hell was a better title for the damn thing. Reid and I hadn't told Caleb or anybody else about it and that was the way I wanted to keep it. I didn't want anyone to know. It wasn't a big deal now that he was gone, so there really wasn't any reason to tell them now. Maybe I'd call them tomorrow and try to tell them what had been going on. They wouldn't be very happy if nobody filled them in on Chase.

"Sneaky, sneaky," Pogue chanted playfully shaking his head at me like he disapproved. "You're starting to take after Reid."

I spared a glance at Reid who grinned. "Makes me proud," he said dropping a teasing kiss on the top of my head.

I rolled my eyes at the two of them. "You guys," I mumbled though I couldn't fight the smile that tugged at my lips. My boys always managed to make me smile, often despite the seriousness or solemnity of the situation. I supposed they just knew me too well.

The sliding glass doors opened and a grey haired nurse stepped in with another bag of what I assumed was something for the IVs in Pogue's arm. More Morphine? Who knew? All I knew was that the nurse didn't look like she wanted us in the room whatsoever, so we decided it was time to go. I quickly kissed Pogue's cheek and Reid and I waved good-bye before we headed over to Kate's room with her cupcake. She was super pleased to see us. The TV was on quietly and he parents, who had been visiting, left quietly when we arrived. They seemed like well mannered people. Not the friendliest, but polite enough that they didn't act like they disliked us right away or anything.

"How are you?" I asked, sitting on the edge of her bed. IVs ran into her arms as well.

"Good. I'm feeling a lot better," she said smiling as I handed her the blue frosted cupcake. "Thanks guys!"

"Since you and Pogue couldn't be there for Caleb's birthday lunch, we brought you a cupcake. See, we included you and everything," I replied playfully.

She pulled me in for a hug and motioned for Reid to take a seat on one of the chairs her parents had been sitting in. He complied leaning back in the chair and resting his head back against the wall closing his eyes.

"How is he? I told him not to drive that damn bike when it's wet out," she huffed frowning her eyebrows furrowing.

She obviously didn't know anything about Chase's part in Pogue getting hurt. It also seemed like she didn't think anything supernatural or abnormally strange was going on, or that had anything to do with her getting sick. Pogue hadn't told her. He hadn't really had much of a chance. I wasn't about to say anything about the Covenant. It wasn't my place to disclose a secret that wasn't mine. I wasn't even sure if Pogue wanted her to know. Sarah had been told because she already half knew and she was a part of this whole thing with Chase. It wasn't much of an option at the time _not_ to tell her. But Kate had no clue as to what was going on. She once told me that she'd asked Pogue about the witch trials, but he always told her it was just a story, nothing more. It made me think that perhaps he didn't want to tell her yet, or even at all.

Sarah, well, Sarah was different. It was easier for her to come to terms with the facts and I saw even back at the house that although it'd take some getting used to, she really did like him. She had barely acted like it even bothered her. I was sure that Caleb felt relieved for that. It was a big fear for them to reveal themselves entirely and get rejected for a freak. Members of the Covenant had to absolutely careful about the choices they made pertaining to the secret. I'm sure it was tough and I was damn glad to not have that worry about. It was quite the burden to bear.

Of course, making sure that I didn't speak about it was possibly a tricky one, too. I'd never had a problem with it. After a while it just came as a second nature to forget about their powers and I never slipped up and said anything stupid in front of outsiders. That would be something that Sarah would constantly have to be on top of. She couldn't get wasted at a party and go blabbing. She'd have to be careful around Kate and everybody else now. I guess that was a burden in itself as well.

"He's a lot better," I replied. "They have him on Morphine for the pain. He certainly looks more alive."

That made her smile and she looked relieved. "Good. So how are things? How was the Fall Fest?" she asked curiously.

I shrugged. I sure had to do a lot of lying today. "Not much different than every other year. We ended up leaving early, but Ty stayed with his date."

"Oh, who?" she asked excitedly. Kate liked gossip for sure. She was just one of those people.

"Some girl named Amy. I never got a chance to meet her. We left too early, but it sounds like he had a good time with her." She went to school with us, so it was only a matter of time before I saw her and actually got to meet her.

There was a soft snort from the corner of the room where Reid sat. "Not _that_ good of a time." Was what I made of his mumblings.

I shook my head at him. It never stopped with Reid. And I actually laughed a bit, Kate too. A few minutes later, Kate's parents walked back in and it was time to leave and give them the room with their daughter. We waved good-bye and left. I hated hospitals so I was sort of glad that we were leaving. They had that gross hospital smell and it made me feel trapped after a while. The car ride back to the Garwin household was mostly quiet. My mind was in a totally different place than in the car with Reid. I was still thinking about how to tell my parents and Chase's body not being found.

"What do you think about tonight?" Reid asked, his eyes straying from the road briefly to glance over at me.

"Hm? What do you mean?" I questioned confused.

"Tonight. What do you want to do? It's our last night at the house. Mom and dad are coming back tomorrow at some point, so we have the rest of today and whatever little of tomorrow to do whatever you want, babe," he replied.

I sat in thought for a moment. The last night alone. A smile came over my face and I placed my hand over his on the shifter. "I'm sure we'll think of something," I said softly.

Turning into the driveway, he took the Chevelle out of gear and put on the parking brake. He looked over at me and raised an eyebrow. Reid looked amused, but interested at the same time. "Yeah? You have something in mind?" He turned his hand over, and laced his fingers through mine.

I glanced away for a moment before meeting his eyes. I was hoping that I didn't start blushing like crazy. I sort of wanted things to just happen on their own, but if tonight was the only night left we had alone, we couldn't pass up the opportunity, right?

"I might."

His lips quirked upwards and he pulled me in for a loving kiss, laced with promises of passion. It made my heart melt and race at the same time. A smile came to my lips once more when we parted. His eyes brightened and he grinned. "Hot tub?"

"Now?" I asked. It was chilly outside, but the hot tub would warm me up, not to mention that it was indoors. There was no need to worry about freezing my ass off as I ran to get in the water. It was a perfect relaxing idea. "That actually sounds really great."

"Alright, let's go, babe," he replied, releasing my hand and turning off the car. He got out waiting for me near the front of the car. I followed in suit as quickly as I could and we went into the house and upstairs to get changed.

It felt like this was going to be our last official night together, which of course wasn't true. Reid could spend the night at my place at Caleb's anytime he wanted to. We'd only be able to sleep or watch movies because we wouldn't be in an empty house anymore. So it was officially our last night by ourselves to do whatever we wanted. Well, I knew how I wanted to spend it: with Reid, in his arms.


	20. Surrounded

**Disclaimer**_**: I do not own the concept or characters from the movie, "The Covenant." Any other characters not related to the movie, are mine and are NOT to be used in any other fan fictions. I also don't own any other things you recognize. **_

**Author Note: **_My sincerest apologies guys, but college took up the majority of my time. Plus, I wanted to make sure that I was happy with what I had written here. A long chapter just as I promised, just a bit late. Thanks for being so patient even I make you wait forever sometimes for an update! I hope you like this chapter, it seemed like it was long overdue... literally. :)_

_**Please don't forget to review!**__ Thank you for reading and __**thanks so much to my loyal readers and reviewers. **__I greatly appreciate the feedback! You guys are amazing! Enjoy! -IB_

* * *

Looking at my bikini clad self in the mirror, I wondered if I would look any different after tonight. Probably not. People always said that they thought they looked different or that they felt different, but I'd have to see for myself. I was sure that I'd _feel_ different. It'd probably change our relationship, too. I hoped that it would be for the better and not for the worse. Not that I wanted to do this to improve our relationship. I didn't think there was anything wrong with Reid and me at all. This was just something that I really felt strongly about at the moment, for quite a few moments actually.

It wasn't like we wouldn't eventually get the opportunity again, but after all of that shit happened with Chase, I just really wanted to take our relationship to the next level. Not that we had to rush things. I honestly though that we had been taking things pretty slowly so far. After all, we'd known each other for years upon years, so it wasn't like I'd be losing my virginity to a complete stranger. This was Reid Garwin. My best friend, my boyfriend, and my first love. It was different with him than any other guy I had ever dated. We had a lot of history together, not_ all_ good. We used to fight like hell when we were little, but I don't think I would change any of the memories I had with him. And I think that this was how I wanted tonight to be. No regrets whatsoever. Not with Reid.

"Babe, you ready?" Reid called from the other side of the bathroom door.

I opened the door and smiled at my half naked boyfriend, holding two towels in his hands. He grinned in return and we left his room to go out to the glass pool room. It was actually pretty cloudy and gloomy out, spare for a few rays of sun that somehow managed to peek through the thick layers of clouds. It didn't matter when the hot tub was indoors. It could rain, hell it could pour for all we cared. It was still early in the afternoon, so I guessed that we'd have a lot to do today before tonight settled upon us. The house was pretty cold and the hot tub was soothing warm into my chilled bones. It made me want to melt right into the water and never leave. Reid turned on the jets.

"I think I would live in here if I didn't turn all pruney and gross," I said as he sat next to me. I leaned my head on his shoulder and sighed closing my eyes. Reid chuckled before he placed a kiss on my head which made me smile.

"It does feel great doesn't it?" he asked.

"Sure does," I mumbled peacefully.

"Sorry about your uncle, Rox."

I shrugged lightly as I peeked an eye open at him. "It's okay. I mean, at least he died saving his son, right? It was a selfless way to go."

Reid moved to put his arm around my shoulder and I moved closer, nuzzling my face into the crook of his neck. I planted a chaste kiss there.

"You sound like my dad. He was pretty down about William, but he said something similar to that."

"I'm sure it's hard to see somebody you know get addicted to something, and then finally when they give it all up, they're dead. Especially when they all grew up together like you and the guys. That's why Caleb worries so much about you getting addicted to the power."

He shifted and looked down at me. His expression was serious and I sat up, eager yet uneasy to here what he was about it say. "There's something I want to get out and say now. I know Caleb thinks that I'm going to turn out like his dad: an addict of the power and a selfish abandoner of his family. You have to know that that's not really me, Rox. I would never do that. I'd rather be addicted to you than any damn power anyway. Hell, I think I am—"

I cut him off by crashing my lips to his and tangling my hands in his hair. I believed that _I_ was already addicted to the man before me and it gave my heart a jumpstarting jolt of happiness to hear him confess that he loved me more than the ever tempting power he possessed. He matched my kisses quickly, his hands on my waist. When we pulled apart, he chuckled.

"I guess you like that idea, huh?" he asked, smiling brightly.

I nodded, beaming back. "I do. You remember when we didn't even like each other?" I inquired, scooting closer to him as I waited for his answer.

"Hey, I never _didn't_ like you. That was all on you, Rox. _You_ didn't like _me_," Reid replied, brushing the back of his hand against my cheek.

I leaned into his touch, but shook my head slightly. "You were awfully mean to me. I distinctly recall you and Pogue getting into a wrestling fight because he told you to knock it off, and you kept it up. It was_ your_ fault that I didn't like you," I teased.

When we were young Pogue and I got along pretty well. I sort of had a tiny crush on him at the time, miniscule in comparison to the one I developed for Reid a few years later. Pogue was my cousin's closest friend and he was always pretty nice to me. I looked up to him and Caleb in a way as opposed to Reid and Tyler who I tended to goof off with (when Reid and I weren't arguing). He used to stick up for me when Reid gave me a hard time, so I supposed that it was more of an admiration crush than anything more. Every girl likes to be rescued by the hero. Of course, now my feelings for anyone else were completely eliminated from my head and heart. Reid was the only one that my heart had room for and I had a lot of love for him.

"I was nine. That was the only way I could show you I liked you," he retorted rolling his eyes. "And Pogue telling me that I shouldn't even speak to you if I was going to act like that set me off. I didn't like him bossing me around like that."

I grinned amused. "You always were the smartass rebel of the bunch, I guess."

"I wasn't _always_ an asshole to you. There was that one time that you fell and skinned the hell outta your shin and I carried you on my back all the way home from the park. You were real tiny and petite then," he pointed out, his eyes distant with the memory.

I frowned. "Are you trying to say I'm fat like a hippo now?" I questioned, poking him in the chest. I knew I wasn't, but sometimes I liked to give him a hard time.

Reid's eyes went wide. "No! No, not at all. You were just short and kind of scrawny. You're just more _woman figured _now." He turned to face me on the hot tub bench and ran his hands from the sides of my breasts to my hips for emphasis. "I like you like this." He pressed his lips to mine quickly before pulling back to see if I was still mad.

I had closed my eyes at his touch, enjoying every second that his hands were on me. I liked that he liked me like this. And I loved his hands on my body. My _body_ loved his hands on it apparently, too. When I opened my eyes, I found that Reid's met mine. There was a knowing expression in those blue orbs like maybe he knew what I was feeling, what he was doing to me. I wondered if I ever made him feel like that: a yearning so powerful, I felt compelled to stay in his arms forever never wishing to leave. I would never give up what we had for anything in the world. I didn't think I could.

I sighed, releasing the breath that I didn't even know I had been holding. I wanted us to wait for the right moment tonight and I was sure we'd know exactly when that was when the time came. Reid seemed to read that idea in my face because he smiled and kissed my forehead.

"Wanna order a pizza and watch a movie tonight?" Reid suggested.

"Ooh, I could definitely go for some pizza. We could do that."

"No, I meant did you want to get out and go order us a pizza?" he replied, a teasing smile gracing his features. His eyes were back to being playful.

I shoved him away from me, good-humoredly as a grin tugged at my own lips. "Smartass."

Cocky as ever, Reid smirked. "That's me." He sighed, settling back against the side of the hot tub.

Shaking my head at him, I began to stand up. "What do you want on your pizza?" I asked, raising an eyebrow expectantly. I really had no intention of getting out of the warmth of the hot tub and trudging into the chilly house for a damn phone and phonebook, but I wanted to tease him again.

He sat up, confusion on his face before he realized that I was threatening to leave. Then he grabbed my hands pulling me back down into the hot tub, which (with where I had been standing) left me to be pulled onto his lap. "I was only kidding," he told me, holding me close and nuzzling his face into my neck.

I grinned to myself. Turning, I moved to rest my back alongside his chest. His arms came around me and held me against him. Occasionally his fingertips would brush along my sides. I rested my head back on his shoulder and found that for some unknown reason, my neck was a temptation for Reid. Soft, feather light kisses were trailed slowly up and down my neck, from ear to shoulder. I had to admit, the feeling it gave me was a million times better than any jet could give me against my back. I closed my eyes again, just enjoying the feel of his lips.

"I'm taking the phone off the hook tonight," he mumbled, his lips brushing along my skin.

"That's the best idea I've heard yet," I replied, smiling. There had been far too many phone calls made to us at the most inopportune moments. It had really been getting old and I think just to ensure our "no interruptions" situation, it'd be best to cut ties to the outside world tonight. That meant turning all the phones off. I just hoped people didn't decide that since we weren't answering our phones, it was totally cool to just pop on over. I think Reid might punch somebody in the face next time. He had been pretty pissed when Pogue called on Friday. I could only imagine his fury if not only had it happened again, but the person was actually here within swinging distance. Not that I thought he'd hurt anybody, just that I think he might lose it if we were interrupted one more time. I didn't quite blame him either. _I_ was sick and tired of getting close, then having it go nowhere because somebody needed us to be somewhere or some shit like that. It was frustrating nonetheless and lately my sexual frustration had been making itself known.

The house was slowly becoming less and less cold. I realized that once I had thrown on a pair of socks, some sweatpants, and a sweatshirt that I was nice and toasty. The heat was on in the house, but it was such a huge mansion that there was still that slight chill in the air. Plus, I realized that I was always either cold or hot, never a nice medium. I let Reid pick the movie as I sat curled up on the white leather couch in front of the big screen TV. I sort of missed the heat from hot tub, but we had stayed in there for at least an hour or so sharing sweet kisses until my stomach growled and ruined the moment. Reid was pretty amused by that, but I on the other hand was a bit embarrassed by something so obnoxious. We ordered a pizza and were waiting for it to arrive when Reid suggested getting a movie picked out now. I told him that I didn't care and that I'd be happy with whatever he chose.

Hearing him coming down the stairs, I turned to look over the back of the couch. He grinned mischievously at me on his way down. "Got one."

I narrowed my eyes suspiciously. "_What_ one?" Something about that smile made me nervous about the choice he picked.

That grin widened as he came around to sit on the couch with me. "This one." He held up the DVD case and I frowned.

"_The Ring _again? That's the freaking scariest one, you jerk," I replied. I was briefly reminded of my first night back when we had watched it together.

"You said that you'd be happy with whatever I picked."

"Yeah, whatever _you_ picked, not twelve-year-old you pining to scare the hell out of me," I replied, crossing my arms under my chest.

"But I picked it because I love you," he said innocently, faking a pout.

"You did _not _pick that because you love me. You are a liar," I told him flatly, fighting a smile. "You just want me to be scared so I'll do the classic girl thing and cling to you the whole time like last time."

Reid chuckled. "Yeah, that too."

I rolled my eyes good-naturedly and kissed him from his cheek to his lips, meeting them for a soft kiss. His threaded his hand through my black and silver hair, keeping me in the kiss. The doorbell rang.

"Pizza!" I cheered hopping up from the couch to get the door as Reid watched me in bewilderment. I guess he hadn't expected me to be so excited about pizza, but the sooner we started eating, the sooner we got to watch the movie, and then we really got to the fun stuff. I opened the door to see a teenage guy around our age with dark hair and blue eyes. He was dressed in a hooded sweatshirt and hat with the pizza parlor's logo on it. He was attractive I'll admit, but no one held a candle to my Reid; not in my eyes.

"Hi," he said, brightening up when he saw me. Must have been crappy to have to deliver pizzas. Maybe he was a bit relieved that he didn't have to make a delivery to somebody he knew like a jerk from school.

"Hi." I smiled in reply and waited for him to tell me what we owed.

"One medium cheese pizza. $17.50. That's a lot of pizza for one person." Was he flirting with me? At what he assumed was my house? No, maybe he was just a friendly guy.

I chuckled somewhat nervously. If Reid heard him, he'd probably drop kick him off the front porch. Of course, that was a complete exaggeration, right? "Oh, no it's not just for me." I dug into my pocket for the cash I knew was shoved in there from earlier.

"Hanging with your friends? That's always a good time," he replied smiling and waiting patiently with the pizza in his hand for the amount due.

"Her _boyfriend_," Reid retorted over my shoulder. Placing an arm around my waist he stilled my hand, handing the guy a small wad of cash, a twenty being one of the bills that I could see. "No change. Have a great night." It didn't sound very friendly as he snatched the pizza out of his hand, gave a sarcastic wave and closed the door. The guy barely had enough time to mumble a "thanks."

I frowned, shaking my head at his behavior. "Reid, you could have been a little nicer."

"I gave him a good tip."

"That's not what I meant."

"What and just stand there like a dumbass while he ogles you? Do I have to watch every guy that's around you?" he inquired sounding irritated, setting the pizza box down on the coffee table in the living room.

"Okay, that's a total over exaggeration and maybe he was just bored and wanted somebody to talk to. It's probably lonely making deliveries all day," I said, sitting down on the couch and he left to go into the kitchen.

I heard him bark out a laugh, but it sounded sardonic. "Yeah, well he looked like he was about to ask if anyone ordered a large package," he called. His voice sounded more playful than a few moments ago and I figured he was seeing the humor in the entire situation.

I snorted and rolled my eyes even though he couldn't see me. "This is not a porno, Reid."

"Try telling that to your delivery boy crush." He came back into the room, with two plates and some napkins. I had a bottled water on the coffee table and Reid had a can of Pepsi.

I leaned forward on the couch to open the top of the box, releasing some hot steam. Mm, it looked really good. "Are you implying that I had a _crush _on him?"

"No, but _he_ was all stricken with your beauty and whatever," he answered, sitting down next to me. "Kind of hard not to be though, so I guess I can't put _all _the blame on him." He smiled and planted a kiss on my cheek.

"I tend to have that effect on people," I said, shrugging teasingly.

"Doesn't surprise me." Pulling me in for a sweet kiss, he grinned. "Ready for _The Ring_?" he questioned, waving the DVD box in front of my face.

Biting my lip, I nodded. "I'm going to regret this," I mumbled, putting a slice of steamy hot cheese pizza onto my plate. I smelled delicious, the only way good pizza could and I took a bite as soon as I felt it had cooled enough. Reid put the movie into the DVD player and flipped the television on. He looked back at me wiggling his eyebrows as the start-up menu came on the screen. I frowned and shook my head entertained by how enthusiastic he was about freaking me out. Feeling sweet, I placed a slice of pizza onto Reid's plate for him.

"Thanks, babe." We sat side by side, munching on our pizza slices and watching the beginning of the film. I may have jumped once or twice and curled up closer to Reid to his amusement, but the movie wasn't entirely the scariest in the beginning. I had seen it once before, but no matter how many times I saw the movie, Samara (the dead chick) always freaked me right the fuck out with her spider-like movements. I figured that if I had been in the movie as a real life experience, I would have died already out of hysterical fear. Thank God it wasn't real life then, huh?

It was nearly halfway through the movie and things were starting to get crazy in the world of _The Ring_. Samara (my _favorite_ person ever…) was on screen again and I scooted farther back into Reid who was lying on his side behind me on the couch. He tightened his arms around me and nuzzled his face into my neck, pressing his lips to my flesh reassuringly leaving small tingles where his lips had been. One of my hands was laced with his while the other held a couch pillow in front of my face so I could control what I saw and didn't see. It was typical protocol for me whenever I watched a horror flick.

"She's such a creeper," I whined rolling over as best as I could in his arms, leaving my back to the screen and dropping the pillow. I didn't want to see her anymore. No, at the moment I was more focused on my boyfriend who was very much _not_ absorbed in the movie himself. He had been trailing his fingertips lazily up and down my side until recently when I grabbed his hand out of fear. His lips had never strayed too from my neck and what he could reach of my shoulder with my hoodie on (which wasn't much). Nothing too heated, just consistent sensual reminders that he was there submersed in the most carnal of thoughts. Well, if I was going to confess, I hadn't really been very engrossed in the movie either. My mind had drifted several times to his body pressed to the length mine on the couch and I felt like every place his own body had come into contact with tingled with the need to be touched.

I met his eyes and already they seemed to darken, burn into mine with pent up desire. I smiled before our lips touched in the slightest way. Just teasing at first and then his hand slid into my hair and he slanted his mouth across mine in a searing kiss that made my head spin. I placed my hand on his bicep, squeezing slightly to feel the muscle through his long sleeved shirt. The other snaked around his neck, my hand found its way into his hair, tangling in the short blonde strands. A shiver went through me as my back was suddenly exposed to the cool air surrounding us. His fingertips danced across my bare skin, gliding up and down my spine as he pushed the sweatshirt up farther.

Reid's hand moved smoothly over my side down to my thigh where he grabbed me behind the knee, hitching my leg over his hip. I released a sigh of serenity, grateful to be closer to his body heat and in his arms where I felt completely wanted. With a quick movement, he shifted his hips against mine before rolling onto his back, bringing me to sit on his waist. Lips still locked, I myself did some shifting until I was placed over his hips, over yet another part of his body where I could feel his desire for me. My breath was coming significantly quicker now, and a soft sound was released from him at the contact even through his jeans and my sweatpants.

Snaking an arm around my waist, Reid used my body against his as leverage pulling himself up into a sitting position. My hands drifted from his hair to sneak under his shirt, intently running over the muscles in his abdomen. I could feel them twitch under my cool fingers and I smiled into the kiss. Pulling away and allowing us to get some air, his lips traveled over my cheek down my neck where he planted gentle kisses along my flesh. I yanked down the collar of my sweatshirt to give him better access, only to have his lips depart from my skin. I made a sound of disapproval before he grabbed the hem of the offending material and practically tore it over my head. Cool air hit my warm skin in contrast as I was left in only my red bra. Once again, his mouth attached itself to the base of my neck, sucking softly, but firmly enough that I knew it'd leave a mark.

Running my hands through his hair as encouragement, he groaned quietly, his lips vibrating with the sound. It sent chills of delight through my entire being. I tugged on his hair, pulling his mouth back to mine, tongues intertwining in their own seductive dance. His hands moved up my back drifting over my chilled body warming it instantly.

Reid's phone vibrated in his front pocket, making me jump in surprise and break our kiss. You had to be fucking kidding me. He glared down at his cell, pulling it out of his pocket, taking the back of the phone off, and tossing the battery out onto the floor followed by the cell. I bit my lip to hold back my giggles at the scene I had just witnessed and he grinned, his eyes still alight with lust.

"No interruptions," he muttered, his voice low, pulling my mouth back to his in a devastatingly pleasing kiss that I felt down to my core. My hands slipped back under his shirt skimming over his skin. Feeling daring, I ran my fingers along the waistband of his jeans giving it a slight tug. Perhaps that upped the ante because within seconds I was on my back on the other side of the couch, Reid hovering over me his mouth sliding down my neck to my breasts. His hands that had been innocently tracing shiver-worthy patterns on my bare back were now dragging my loose sweatpants down to my calves. I kicked them the rest of the way off, leaving me nearly naked and my delectable boyfriend still fully clothed.

I sucked in a harsh breath as his teeth grazed over the top of my breast, where the bra just fell short of covering. That gasp turned into a moan when his fingers ran over the thin material of my already moist panties, and heat flooded through me immediately. This wasn't fair. I wanted Reid to be bare himself. I wanted to feel his hot skin against mine warming me to my absolute depths. Emitting a noise of protest, I grasped the hem of Reid's shirt, pulling up. Getting the hint, he detached himself from me, sitting up and pulling the shirt over his head quickly. His mouth found mine in a tantalizing caress; his upper body pressing to mine soon followed by his lower half. Anticipation and something else stirred deep in my belly moving south as I lifted my hips to brush them against his. A heavy groan escaped him and sped my heartbeat up at once. His hands flexed and gripped my hips assisting me in moving against him again. Tiny shards of pleasure tore through my center and I gripped his shoulders feeling dizzy with the feeling.

Tearing my lips from his, I licked a line up his neck, feeling a delightful shiver run through him. I skimmed my teeth over his collarbone next, nipping at his skin lightly. The second I wrapped my legs around his waist, pressing myself fully against him, Reid yanked my head back to stare into my brown orbs. I thought they looked just as bright with lust as Reid's were by the way he stared, almost unblinking at them. A scream was heard to the right of me, evidence that the movie was still playing, but I didn't care. Nothing was more distracting than Reid himself.

"Not here," he said. His voice sounded strained and husky like he was trying to stay in control of himself, yet he wanted me as much as I wanted him. Our breaths were ragged causing our chests to heave erratically with the everlasting need for air. I bit my lip from the intensity of his gaze and he jerked my hips closer to his, closing his eyes at the swift movement momentarily. Reid's arms slid around my back and he lifted us both on the couch before standing up. My arms and legs locked around him and I rubbed my cheek along his neck, gently biting the sinewy tendrils of muscles that flexed and tensed with my ministrations. He carried me up the stairs to his room, depositing me on the bed and following me down after ridding himself of his pants. With a flash of obsidian in his eyes, the door flung shut and locked ensuring us that no one could reach us by phone or person. It was a nice relief to know we'd be able to have a real night alone for once.

Pulling Reid's face to mine, my tongue snaked out and licked his lips slowly teasing him. Opening his mouth, he fastened it over mine in another scorching kiss, tongue touching mine sensually. His hand supported me from underneath, unclipping my bra. Then he brought his hand around to the front and cupped one of my breasts, his other hand pulling the bra off my arms. I arched up into his hand, feeling the breath I had been retaining release in a breathy moan into his mouth. He pecked me once more before dipping his head down to my now bare chest.

"Beautiful," he breathed, his hot breath sending chills throughout my body. Lowering his mouth to my skin, Reid left a trail of hot kisses along the valley of my breasts. His fingers looped into my panties and he tugged them down, following after them, leaving gentle kisses down my stomach and on my legs in his wake. Reid's eyes scanned my body once he tossed my panties to the floor and a smile touched his mouth. "You're gorgeous, baby."

My face felt warm, but so did the rest of me under such a lustful gaze. I meant to sit up, but Reid softly pushed me back down. His lips brushed along my thigh and he shifted my legs apart, his mouth now grazing my inner thigh. My breathed stopped and my heartbeat sped up to the point where I thought it might explode. Surely, he wasn't going to? I didn't know if I wanted him to and quite frankly I was a bit embarrassed about it. Heat flushed my cheeks and I sat up on my elbows.

"Wait," I said anxiously. My voice sounded different somehow, maybe throatier?

Reid growled against my skin and I gasped at the intense vibration of it. Before I had a chance to say anything more, an intimate, languid lick stole all thought from my mind. My breath hitched and I shook, unable to ignore the pleasant waves that one move had sent through me. A second touch of his tongue tore a small cry from me, a sound I didn't know I could make. I bit my lip and clenched the sheets in my hands, dropping back down. Looking down, I saw his head dipped down between my legs where my desire for him pulsated tauntingly. The sight of him like that sent a tiny tremor through me and I closed my eyes, only able to focus on the powerful strokes of his tongue and the feeling welling up deep within me. His hands tightened on my hips, holding me in place.

I wasn't sure if I could ever get use to such a feeling, and Reid was picking up the pace. My hips twitched against his mouth and my breath began to get shaky as I freed soft moans into the quiet surrounding us. I nearly began shaking; the whole event was almost overwhelming me like I was on sensation overload. Something I'd never be able to forget. I had met my fair share of guys who wanted a blow job, however I hadn't met one that would be willing enough to reciprocate (even though I'd never ask). And then there was Reid who didn't even need to be asked and hardly took "no" for an answer at that. He was amazing although I had nothing to compare him to, I was sure he was the best. It made me wonder if he had ever done this to other girls. Jealousy struck through me and then the feeling was gone in an instant, replaced by liquid heat at Reid's continuation of his ministrations. It was hard to concentrate on anything else, really.

My hands raked through his blonde hair, unable to not touch him in this instance. Reid groaned against the pink flesh before delving in again sending a tremor through me. A loud moan filled the room that I hardly recognized as my own. He chuckled, his breath tickling me and brushing against me in the most intimate way. The pressure had built up in my core from his attentions and now I wanted nothing more than to feel what was to come later. I hoped I didn't have to fake anything, but with Reid I wasn't sure I'd need to. I think that was one of my biggest fears when it came to having sex. The pain at first, being so open, and not being a satisfactory lover. Not being able to give him what he wanted. I wanted Reid though, so much. I felt readier than I've ever felt in my life.

"Reid," I whispered gazing into his eyes as he sat between my legs, still very close to my center. His focus was on my face as my eyes bore into his with intensity. I needed him now like I'd never needed anything more in my life. It wasn't so much the desire for the physical contact that was filling me with need as it was the love I truly felt for him. I could see that very full heart of love reflected in his eyes. Reid's lips twitched upward and he moved forward to hover over me, his hand on my cheek as his mouth met mine in a very soft, loving kiss. At first, the salty flavor on his lips made fire scorch across my cheeks in embarrassment, but that modestly was soon replaced when he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close.

With a gasp I felt the bulge restrained by his boxers rub against my now sensitive core. Bringing my leg up, I hooked my foot into the waistband of his boxers, working to pull them down as far as I could. He kicked them off leaving him completely naked. Now I felt his bare hardness brush along the wet crease of my desire. My hands squeezed his shoulders with friction of it, and Reid groaned into my mouth. Breaking the kiss slowly, he pulled back to give me a serious searching look.

"Rox, are you really sure this is what you want?" he asked, his voice had a lovely roughness to it that I could not get enough of. It was tantalizing and only made me nod my head.

"Yes. I want you to make love to me," I replied quietly, but confidently.

Within seconds, a heart tugging smile broke out on his face and his eyes still burned. He sealed his mouth over mine in another loving, but passionate kiss making my head spin. His hands slid down to my hips and he held them firmly before I felt the very tip of him breach my entrance. I squeezed my eyes closed, tears welling up in them at the sheer size of him stretching what had never been stretched before. No one was lying when they said the first time would hurt like hell. It was sort of like a stinging burn had started in my loins and with every inch of Reid was more of that harsh fire. Fullness. That was all I could use to describe the feel of him inside of me. So foreign to me, yet it was an interesting concept. It took me a few moments to realize he wasn't moving anymore. I peeked my eyes open slowly, seeing his own closed, but for a much different reason than me as I could read it on his face. They opened revealing that loving look I'd come to be very fond of, laced with concern, and of course underlying lust.

"Are you okay?" Reid asked. His voice was strained and thick with underlying emotions. He brushed away a stray tear, kissing the salty trail on my cheek. "We can stop."

I shook my head. "No, just give me minute. Sorry," I mumbled back looking away slightly ashamed at the idea of needing to adjust to it all. How many girls had Reid been with and how many of those girls had practically cried about something like this. It almost made me ashamed to be a virgin. I wanted Reid to be my first of course. There was no doubt about that, but I didn't like feeling like such an inexperienced little girl in front of him.

"Don't be." His voice sounded softer and he placed comforting kisses over my face, down my neck, upon my lips. The pain was slowly subsiding and now I could feel the dull throb of him inside me. It was slowly but surely reigniting a different more welcomed fire in me now. I moved my hips against his timidly and he pulled back to see me. He wore an expression of pure surprise. I nodded, urging Reid with my eyes to go on and move. That I was okay. The more I got used to it, the less I figured it would hurt. Using only his hips, he pulled back slowly before thrusting forward tenderly and groaned against my neck. I hissed slightly at the sensation caught between pain and pleasure. Again his eyes searched my face for my reaction before he repeated the action. It was getting better little by little. With each gentle arc of his hips, the pain began to reside.

A few minutes had passed I was now feeling better. A lot better in fact as that steady rhythm had the coiling feeling back in my loins. I had actually found myself moving my own hips in time with his. My eyes had fluttered closed and cries were emitted from me at every thrust now. Noises of raw pleasure came from Reid that I had never heard him make. All I knew was that it was me who was causing him to do that and I wanted nothing more than to continue. I had never felt anything quite like this in my life. Our pace picked up significantly over time and I gripped Reid's back feeling the muscles there flexing with every measured stroke.

He pulled me tighter against him, suddenly shifting us so that he was kneeling on the bed even as he remained inside of me, moving steadily. I was now straddling his lap. A devastatingly passionate kiss was shared between us as he and I moved together. I wasn't sure there was anything quite like this and I felt such a closeness, such an openness and acceptance with Reid that my heart swelled with the very love I had for him. We broke the kiss for oxygen which was now being sucked in by gasps as I tried to satiate my lungs. The pleasure was growing in me was agonizingly mind-blowing as Reid's lips trailed hot, wet kisses across my chest. I was panting for air now. Beads of sweat ran down his body as well as mine and I bent my head to lick his chest softly. I could hear him breathing harshly in my ear as he increased our pace yet again. Tiny shards of ecstasy were rippling through my body now and I felt… close. Close to what I wasn't completely sure I knew. All I knew was that it was an incredible intensity that I was feeling now, almost dizzying. Again that coiling in my core seemed to tighten with each movement. Mixed with the physical attraction and the emotion connection Reid and I had, it made things practically immensely overwhelming.

Although I wasn't sure either of us was capable of actual words right, Reid proved me wrong. "I love you," he groaned into my neck, his hands flexing on my hips. That coiling in my core tightened significantly at his words and suddenly a cry wrenched from my throat. The dam had broken and I was thrown into ecstasy with such force that Reid's face swam before my eyes even as he held me close. It was like no pleasure I'd ever felt in my seventeen years of life and part of me almost couldn't believe it had happened. I was still shaking with the residual tingles when Reid buried his face into my neck, gripping my hips and emanated a guttural moan against my skin, a tremor rippling through him as well. Our pants and contented sighs were the only sound in the dark, hot room, but it was music to my ears.

Laying me on my back, he pulled out and lay next to me. As I tried to catch my breath, I stared at the ceiling and reflected on the events that had just gone down. Normally I think my cheeks would have flushed, but after that, my modestly had left the building. Turning my head, I looked at Reid whose bright blue eyes were also on me. A smile lit his face and I mirrored it. I felt completely relaxed, happy even. His hair was sweaty, matted to his head and yet he still looked perfect to me.

"I love you," came my delayed reply. I thought I sounded funny still like I had been yelling or something. My voice was sort of scratchy.

Reid grinned lazily and moved close to me to kiss me softly. "Good, cause you're stuck with me, babe." His voice sent tiny shivers through me. A delicious timbre from his climax laced his normal tone and I loved it. I also was quite pleased that I was one who had made it like that.

I laughed breathlessly dragging his lips back to mine for another sweet kiss. I settled my head and hand on his chest and sighed deeply as his arms wrapped around me, but that was the majority of my effort to shift. "I don't know if I can move," I commented honestly. It seemed as though my limbs had taken their lunch break and closed up shop. Everything felt delightfully tingly. Of course there wasn't really anywhere I wanted to move to. I could stay in Reid's arms forever and be content.

A light chuckle shook me on his chest. "Also good." His lips touched my forehead and although he was sweaty, part of that sweat was my own on his gorgeous body and I didn't care if we were hot and sticky.

"I'm almost sorry we waited such a long time." It was a thought that had crossed my mind quite a few times in the past moments. I somehow felt… more connected to Reid. Linked to him somehow. We shared something that I thought a lot of people take for granted, but I knew it meant something to us, to me. My heart was open to him entirely, my soul was his, intertwined in his own everlastingly.

"You were well worth the wait," he whispered against my damp hair. "I can promise you that, Roxanne."

I fell into a peaceful slumber with a smile on my face, surrounded by the arms of my love.


	21. She was Asking for it

Disclaimer_: I do not own the concept or characters from the movie, "The Covenant." Any other characters not related to the movie, are mine and are NOT to be used in any other fan fictions. I also don't own any other things you recognize. _

**Author Note: **_My deepest apologies guys. This took waaay longer to update than I had originally planned, but I got completely swamped between work, school, and everything in between. Plus, I was having problems with the server and it wasn't letting me upload the chapter, but all is resolved now. I will continue to update as quickly as possible and will post the estimated time of update arrivals on my profile as usual. Thanks for sticking with me even though I've made you all wait forever! :)_

_**Please don't forget to review!** __Thank you for reading and **thanks so much to my loyal readers and reviewers. **I greatly appreciate the feedback! You guys are amazing! Enjoy! -IB_

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Opening my eyes, I wasn't sure what time it actually was, but it certainly didn't _feel_ early. I had slept so deeply that I felt completely well rested. Sore in places I had never been sore before, but rested. A few beams of morning light landed on Reid's cheek and shoulder, making his skin look like it was glowing, and his hair nearly looked golden as opposed to the light blonde it truly was. His face was relaxed and his breathing even as he slept.

I heard a bird or two chirping cheerfully outside, probably in one of the trees. His arm was slung over my waist as he slept on his side facing me. My lips quirked upward at the memories of last night and at how much love had flowed between us. I rolled over onto my back and looked at the clock. The alarm was about to go off. It was Monday and our last official day together alone. I kind of wanted to stay in bed all day with Reid, but Spenser got pissy when you didn't show up to class after a dance. It was a type of slogan that they used: if you could make it to a school function, you could get your lazy ass up for school. Of course, it wasn't _entirely_ worded like that, but I was sure that was what they _really _meant.

Beside me Reid stretched, groaning and sighing deeply. His eyes slowly fluttered open and when they landed on me, he smiled. "Hi."

"Hi," I replied, the smile permanent on my face.

"How'd you sleep?"

"Great."

"What are you thinking about?" he asked cautiously as he shifted, placing his hand on my cheek.

I shook my head, leaning into the warmth of his palm. "Just about you. I love you."

He grinned at that, seeming relieved. "I love you, too, babe." Reid pulled me to him for a soft, loving kiss that made my heart swell. "How do you feel?"

I thought about it for a moment before replying honestly. "Sore, but, I don't know I feel really… _good_ I guess." I wasn't sure there was any other way to describe the feeling. Everything just seemed so amazing as of last night. The birds outside didn't even bother me this morning.

He smiled in return before kissing my forehead. "I know what you mean." Pulling away he glanced at the alarm clock, switching it off before it had a chance to go off. "I could use a shower."

"Me too." I nodded rapidly. Now that the sweat had dried on my body, I felt kind of grimy and gross. "That's a great idea."

He chuckled. "Go ahead. I'm gonna get us some breakfast. I worked up an appetite." He winked teasingly and kissed me again before rolling out of bed. I realized that somewhere during the night he had put on a pair of boxers. I, on the other hand, hadn't put anything on. I had fallen asleep completely bare, something I never did, obviously.

"What about the pizza from last night?" I asked curiously as I sat up, pulling the covers with me.

"It's in the fridge. Why? You want cold pizza for breakfast, I'm guessing," he replied, chuckling as I nodded and smiled widely. "Some things never change."

"Nope. We could probably save water and shower together. You know, go green and everything," I suggested, trying to be bold, but I felt a bit shy initiating the idea.

"Tempting." Reid sighed even a he smirked. "But I'm going to be honest here and say that if I get in the shower with you, we won't make to school on time, or at all."

My cheeks warmed slightly and my stomach jumped excitedly. A part of me had been worried that after last night, he wouldn't really want me anymore. I also had worried that after we'd had sex, I wouldn't want him anymore or it would make things weird between us. It was pretty silly idea really. I guess I had the same thoughts as him this morning. I hadn't wanted to disappoint him with my lack of experience. "Well, at least you're being truthful." I had a feeling he was right though. I had wanted to stay in bed all day with him, so what would be so different about the shower? There'd be no way in hell I'd want to go to school if I had that opportunity.

He smiled. "So I'll let you take my bathroom. I'll take the one down the hall and we'll meet downstairs for _cold _pizza."

I grinned. "Yep." I blew him a kiss and he left with another wink. I couldn't stop smiling even as I hopped out of the nice warm bed and into the chilly air. I practically leaped to the bathroom and threw on the shower making sure it was hot before getting in. I washed up until the scent of coconut filled the entire bathroom from my body wash and shampoo. I realized now more than ever how sore I was as I moved around in the shower. Mostly my muscles from moving in ways I wasn't necessarily used to, but _other_ muscles were sore too. It was actually kind of like a workout. The pain and soreness was to be expected obviously, but I hoped it wouldn't always be like this. Eventually I thought I'd get used to the feel of it.

Wrapping a towel around myself, I towel dried my hair and I looked in the mirror. I certainly didn't look different, save for a few hickeys along my neck, collarbone and chest. My uniform would cover the majority of them so I wasn't too worried about concealing the rest with cover-up. Although I didn't appear any different, I felt different. I couldn't really explain how, just altered a bit.

Realizing that I had forgotten to bring clothes into the bathroom with me, I was forced to open the door up to the cold room to get my uniform. I had one for every day of the week and then some, so there was no need to do any laundry yet. The maid and cook would be back today around the same time as Reid's parents. Apparently they had been given a small vacation when Heather and Joseph left on theirs. It was definitely nice of them. That was mainly the reason why Reid was asked to check on the house and that lead us to staying here in the first place. It also meant we had been completely alone until they came back which had also been really nice. I wanted to thank them, but it would have been kind of awkward to say, "Hey, thanks for leaving so your son and I could have sex!" Oh, yeah, I'm sure _that'd _go over fantastically. Awesome idea.

As I rifled through my designated drawer, I heard soft footsteps on the carpeting. Looking up, I noticed Reid, a towel wrapped around his waist, water still dripping down from his hair along his body. I guessed that he had forgotten his clothes, too. I smiled at the sight of him and heat flooded through me as the thought of licking each water droplet off of his beautiful body crossed my mind. There was nothing like being presented with a wet, half naked Reid to start the day off with dirty thoughts. By his smirk I thought he might have read my mind. It also might have been the fact that I was nearly staring at him like I wanted to eat him alive or _something_ like that. What a weirdo I was this morning.

Walking past me, he dropped a kiss on my cheek before digging his Spenser uniform out of his dresser. "You smell good," he muttered.

I grinned. "Thanks. Right back at you." A scent of soap had wafted off of him as he passed. Of course, he always smelled good to me. Even after practice when he smelled like chlorine. There was always the familiar scent of Reid that accompanied and overpowered any other smell.

Dropping his towel unabashedly, he pulled on boxers and pants. I looked away out of sheer politeness although I wanted nothing than to stare at him in all his naked glory (Who wouldn't?). However stunning his body may have been, he still might have like some privacy to get dressed. Once I had collected everything, I backed away from the drawer only to find that I had bumped into something firm. Warm arms wrapped around my waist and Reid rested his head on my shoulder before nuzzling my neck. He trailed his fingertips lazily up and down my arm. Goosebumps had broken out on my flesh from the chill in the room and now from his soft fingertip.

"Cold?" he asked, his lips moving against my skin. His chest was hot and warmed my bare shoulders. I could even feel his body heat through the cloth of my towel. I felt hot instantly, but for a completely different reason.

I sighed and leaned back against him, trying to absorb some of his warmth into me. "You could say that." I shivered lightly.

"Oh, I could, could I?" he replied, his soft lips brushing along the shell of my ear. "Could I also say I'd like to warm you up?" His ran his hands up and down my sides through the towel.

"You could, but getting dressed would also make me warm," I replied, pulling away to get changed. I didn't want to start something this morning that we couldn't finish. Damn Spenser. I was abruptly pulled back by my arm against his body again. I turned my head to look up at him and his mouth met mine unexpectedly. I nearly melted right there as warmth coursed through my body.

He ran his hands down my shoulder blades and my towel flitted down to the floor. I wasn't sure if it the sudden movement had knocked it loose or if Reid just had a knack for getting me naked. His hands were eager, yet gentle, running over my skin. My hands were on his chest. I could feel his heart beating strong and steady under my palm. Although the cool air prickled my flesh, my mind barely concentrated on it. My thoughts were once again absorbed in Reid alone and I wondered if I would always get lost when he kissed me.

We broke apart only for Reid to brush his mouth along my neck. I couldn't help but to giggle slightly. "Reid, I have to get dressed," I warned teasingly. Just out of a sudden thought, I turned my head to peek at the clock. Oh shit, we were already running late. "Reid, stop. _Reid_." He had begun to nip at my skin with no sign of stopping, until I had raised my voice. "We're going to be late for school. Remember school, the place we have to be in twenty minutes?"

He groaned, clearly irritated at the idea of school, but didn't cease his actions. "So?" he mumbled out.

"Reid, come on," I said getting flustered, moving his face from my neck to my face. "I'm serious. We're really going to be late. Babe, my idea of a Monday morning isn't sitting in the Provost's office explaining to him that my horny boyfriend couldn't keep it in his pants." I laughed lightly at the last part. It certainly would have made for an _interesting_ conversation though.

"We won't be late if we just don't go, babe," he replied grinning and yanking me closer.

"You have the worst logic sometimes," I answered smiling and shaking my head. "What happened to the Reid ten minutes ago who said we couldn't shower together because we wouldn't make it to school?"

"He's fully awake now."

I snorted amused as I shook my head at his words.

"Did I mention today that you're incredibly beautiful and that I love you more than anything?" he asked, looking hopeful, his hands still trailing up and down my sides.

I pushed him back. "You are _such_ a kiss ass," I said playfully before gathering up my clothes from the dresser.

"Is it working? Even just a little."

"No, you're definitely gonna have to try harder than that."

His grin turned to a dirty smirk as he pulled me back to him by my hips. "_Harder_, huh?"

"Reid!" I squeaked as I jumped out of his grasp. Well, at least he was still in a good mood. Even his dirty antics made me grin like an idiot. He always managed to make me smile, usually no matter what he was saying.

He chuckled at my reaction, leaning forward to kiss my cheek. "Fine, fine. Go cover up, but you won't get away from me that easily. I'll get you today when you least expect it, babe."

I rolled my eyes, but laughed anyway. "We'll see," I teased him before giving him a quick kiss. "I'll be downstairs in a few minutes." I kissed him once more, and then turned around to go back into the bathroom leaving him to get dressed.

It surprised me immensely that it hardly bothered me to walk around naked in front of Reid anymore. I guess that one step in our relationship last night knocked some of the modestly out of me. I also realized I wasn't quite as much of a blushing idiot as I had been when Reid would say sexual things to me. I was sure I would still blush and get embarrassed from time to time, but I was looking forward to living a mostly blush free life.

* * *

The drive to school consisted mainly of Reid and I playfully arguing about why cold pizza was my favorite thing to eat for breakfast in the morning. I'd like to say that I won, but I think Reid had me beat when at one point he said he wouldn't mind eating _me_ for breakfast. The way he had said it and the expression on his face, it caught completely off guard. I had no comeback (besides for a shocked face no doubt) and he just smirked triumphantly knowing he had probably just shut me up for the rest of the car ride. I honestly couldn't believe he had even just said that. To my disappointment, my cheeks heated and I knew immediately that I was blushing. So much for that lack of embarrassment streak, huh?

Surprisingly we ended up getting to school on time. Although I got a few looks that I took as strange from Caleb and the newly released Pogue, I figured that they couldn't possibly know anything. I had covered up the hickeys as best as I could, so I knew that they couldn't be looking at those. I wasn't sure exactly what the looks were for, but either way it wasn't anybody's business but ours. English class was filled with Professor Channing lecturing about God only knows what. I hadn't been paying much attention since very discretely Reid had been running his hand softly up and down my leg. Silently, we argued with looks (well I argued, Reid mostly just smirked). I doubted the lecture had been that important, but I guess I'd never know anyway.

Before I knew it, gym class was only minutes away and as we walked from lunch in a collective group, Reid pulled me aside quickly to kiss me. I smiled against his lips until a strangely familiar voice barked at us to get to class. Breaking apart we saw that it was the same janitor from the other night in the dorms. As embarrassed as I was that we got caught again by the same guy, I had to admit later that it was actually kind of funny. Reid certainly thought it was hilarious because he could hardly stop laughing as we caught back up with our group.

Kate, who had also been released from the hospital recently, was tucked neatly under Pogue's arm. She looked at us and opened her mouth to speak, but I held my hand up and shook my head. "You don't even want to know."

We departed from each other, going into the locker rooms to get changed. Today was another running day. It wasn't that I didn't feel like running, but it was Monday. Who the hell wanted to run on a Monday? And who the fuck wanted to see that red headed bitch again? Not me. As I peeled off my shirt I saw her walking down the locker bay. She looked me over and smirked.

"Knew you were a whore," she muttered, with a smile on her face as she passed.

My eyes narrowed and I clenched my shirt in my fist to keep from lashing out. A sudden thought came to mind that the cover up had rubbed off onto the inside of my blouse leaving my love bite obviously exposed. It was _my_ damn body and I was free to do with it as I pleased. I didn't understand why this girl thought it was her business what Reid and I did.

"Takes one to know one, huh?" I replied coldly. Normally assuming makes an ass out of "u" and "me"; however I figured it was _pretty_ safe to do in this case.

Sarah and Kate looked over at me then, noticing the marks as well. A smile came to Sarah's face and she nudged Kate playfully, who mouthed "details later."

A smile tugged at my lips at their apparent girly excitement, until the redhead, whose name I still did not know, spoke again. "Only with your boyfriend it does. He's good isn't he?" There was that taunting smile again, and I fought hard with myself not to smack it the fuck off her face. I was sure that I looked crazed like I was about to explode, mainly because if someone didn't get her away from me, I was literally going to. Here I was floating on cloud 9 from an amazing night and then she had to come and rain all over my parade.

"Is there some reason why you're stuck on bitch mode all the time?" I asked, my anger seething through my words. It was an honest question though, because I truly never figured out what the hell her problem with me was.

She laughed humorlessly. "You just don't know how to take me." She started walking away before she paused, turned around, and smirk. "Oh, and tell Reid when he's finished with you that he can start fucking me again. I'm free tomorrow."

I saw nothing, but red. Flinging my shirt on the ground, I lunged at her. It seemed completely silent around us save for the sound of us crashing into a row of lockers. What a fucking bitch! I slammed her back against the locker. "Stop running your fucking mouth. He doesn't want anything to do you. Just accept that," I hissed. I had a bit of an advantage on her. She was smaller than I was, but she definitely had a bigger mouth.

She shoved me back, throwing me to the floor and pulling at a handful of hair. I ended up hitting my head and I'd probably have a nice bruise on my hip, but I flipped us so that I had the upper hand. Kickboxing had apparently been a really good idea to take. "He's using you, you stupid cun-"

And then I punched her square in the face. She'd have a nice bruise, but she deserved everything she got. She's lucky I didn't kill her. After all, I had never done a damn thing to this girl and here she was calling me names. So now I gathered that Reid had probably had sex or done something with this girl at some point and now she was pissed at me because, true to Reid fashion, he never spoke to her again. Of course, don't be pissed at Reid or anything. You know, the guy who fucked you and never called you back? No, you shouldn't be mad at _him_, that's only _too_ logical. Just be mad at me, the innocent by standing girlfriend.

Of course, her initial reaction was a shriek and she clutched at the side of her face. I hadn't wanted to inflict any harsh physical damage, but hey, if that's what it came down to in order to get her to shut the fuck up, it had to be done.

By now, some girl had run to get Ms. Brown do doubt, because there she stood in the doorway to her office. Momentarily distracted by her stricken, yet angry face, I didn't see the next attack by the redhead and she hauled off and slapped across the face, cutting my cheek with her ring. Well, that wasn't supposed to happen. It would have carried on longer, had Ms. Brown and another teacher not pulled us apart.

"Get dressed now and get out," Ms. Brown practically roared out at us. "To the Provost's office with both of you!"

Glaring at everyone who looked my way, I picked my shirt up and pulled it on over my head as the other teacher escorted us both out the door. By now my head was pounding from the contact with the floor and wiping my cheek, I found that I was in fact bleeding. What had started out as a great day was going downhill fast. Neither one of us said anything as Ms. Brown marched us down the hall to the Provost. If the scenario had been different I might have laughed out right at the idea of ending up exactly where I had told Reid I didn't want to spend my Monday morning.

* * *

The Provost's office was absolute Hell. Sitting there attempting to explain anything to him was like a freaking lost cause. In the end, we each were given a week's worth detention and our grades in P.E. were going to be dropped an entire grade. I couldn't really complain because Spenser was a fight intolerant school and we could have easily got suspended or even expelled. I figured my escape from expulsion had something to do with the rather large donations the Danvers family dished out to the school every once and a while.

Provost Higgins made sure to stress that if this ever happened again the consequences would be much more severe. Of course he didn't actually understand why it was that we were fighting. He had never been a teenage girl and therefore couldn't tell that the fakely sweet girl sitting next me holding an icepack to the side of her face (whose name I found out was Amy Tempshaw, I seriously hoped it was Tyler's Amy) was an evil little bitch. He didn't however believe _everything_ she said, so he deserved a little credit.

I had been praying the entire time that this wouldn't reflect back on Caleb and that fight at Nicky's Bar and Grill. Not to mention the Danvers family and how we were all just so impulsive enough to start fighting all the time. I also prayed that the money kept from kicking us both out. At least he didn't call our parents, or he was going to call Auntie Ev about me. If my parents got word of this, they'd be super pissed. I wasn't big on fighting anyway, it just sort of happened.

Speaking of parents, I found out this morning that Auntie Evelyn had called my parents to tell them about the past events and how Uncle William was officially dead. My dad was probably taking it the hardest. He had wanted to stay here in Ipswich, close to home, but my mom wanted to move to get out of the small town living and he agreed. He had always visited my uncle every week to see how things were going when we were all still here. It was hard to be apart from someone that you were so close with. I knew from experience.

I also realized that I hadn't truly spoken to my parents the entire time I had been here. Far too much crap had kept my attention elsewhere and I was more than likely going to hear about it when they arrived.

After a lecture on how fighting was bad and wasn't to happen on Spencer grounds, we were free to go back to class and detention started tomorrow after school. Could have been worse I guessed. I even got to miss the rest of P.E. and History class. By the time they had escorted us down to the infirmary to get patched up (I insisted I was fine. Just a shallow cut and it had already clotted and stopped bleeding by the time we actually got there) to the time it took for the situation to be explained to the Provost, and then for him to come up with an actual solution seemed like forever.

I had thought about throwing some cover up on over the cut so that Tyler and Reid wouldn't see it in Study Hall, but decided against it since it'd most likely sting. Come to think of it, I didn't have anything to hide. It wasn't like the entire school hadn't found out by now what had happened. When you went to a private school full of rich kids, news travelled lightening speed fast.

The bell rang just as I made it into study hall. I honestly could not have been happier for the class being held in the library because it was kind of like a free period. The tables were spaced out all around the rooom which I greatly appreciated at the moment. I didn't need people staring at me or asking me any questions about the whole fiasco. It was done and over with and I wished it wouldn't have to ever happen again. It couldn't have been more of a pain in the ass, quite literally actually. I was almost positive that I had a bruise the size of Kentucky on my ass, not to mention that my head was still pounding. Passing by a water fountain I popped two Tylenol with the help of the liquid and continued on to the library.

Opening the doors, everyone turned to look at me and scanning the room, I found the only two pairs of eyes I wanted on me and walked over to their table. Reid's blue eyes were wide and he stood up out of his seat. The look on my face must have gave away my emotions because instead of making a big scene of 'what the hell happened?' and 'we've been worried', he sat back down when I did and took my hand in his.

"Who won?" he asked softly, tenderly touching my cheek where the slice in my cheek was. I prayed I didn't get a battle scar.

I smiled somewhat bitterly. "Well, if you think _I_ look bad, you should see the whole of side Amy Tempshaw's face," I replied with equal softness. The ice was meant to keep the swelling down, but her face near her eye and upper cheek bone were already turning a pretty gross color. Plus, her face was starting to puff up. Glancing over at Tyler to see his reaction, I noticed nothing out of the ordinary other than relief. I was relieved too. All I needed was for it to be the Amy Ty was seeing for the day to really turn out shitty.

"That's my girl," Reid whispered kissing my forehead, trying to lighten my mood. "What's the damage?"

I sighed heavily, looking from him to Tyler. "A week's worth of detention and my grade's gonna drop a whole ten percent in P.E. At least I'm not suspended or expelled."

Beside me, Reid released a breath. "Thank God, right?"

"What was it about?" Tyler asked curiously.

I shrugged in response. "She was just being a bitch _again _and she said some things she shouldn't have." Then I looked to Reid with a disappointed expression. "Dating you is becoming detrimental to my health."

His lips twitched apologetically. "Sorry, babe. I guess there were some crazy girls before you."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, but just how many of them, I guess I'll soon find out if they keep coming after me."

He paused for a moment contemplating something.

"What?" I asked curiously.

"You fighting is kind of hot. I'm not saying I condone it or anything, but if you wanted to start mud wrestling on Fridays, I wouldn't stop you." He smirked playfully.

I rolled my eyes as I often did, but I managed to laugh and he _did_ in fact cheer me up.

Tyler snorted in his seat across from us and shook his head. "Don't you ever get sick of him? Just once?" he asked motioning to Reid.

"Watch it, baby boy."

I shook my head in reply, a smile on my face. "Never."


	22. From Bad to Worse

Disclaimer_: I do not own the concept or characters from the movie, "The Covenant." Any other characters not related to the movie, are mine and are NOT to be used in any other fan fictions. I also don't own any other things you recognize. _

**Author Note: **_Hey all! I know this is late, but I wasn't sure how I wanted to write this chapter. Also, our power went out for a week when I was originally supposed to update. That nonsense made me behind in my online course and so catching up took priority over this. Sorry about that. I hope you guys don't hate me at the end of this chapter, but I'm sure you will for at least a few more to come. _

_Anyway, I really wanted to say that this story will hopefully be updated next month, but I can't make any promises. By the end of this week I will have uploaded the first chapter of my new True Blood story (Godric/OC for those who are interested) and I was hoping to get at least a few chapters up of that fic before updating this one. Hope you guys understand! Thanks so much for the reviews and author/story alerts and favorites! They truly surprise me every time I see a notification in my email! And thanks to the readers, even if you don't review or add my story to anything, it means a lot to me that you take the time to read! Enjoy :D_

_**Please don't forget to review!** __Thank you for reading and **thanks so much to my loyal readers and reviewers. **I greatly appreciate the feedback! You guys are amazing! Enjoy! -IB_

* * *

Waking up was a task in itself the next morning. Without Reid by my side, I had been restless beyond belief. Of course that couldn't have only been attributed to Reid's absence. Today was my uncle's wake and funeral. My parents had arrived yesterday before I got home from school and had been less than pleased with my appearance. My mom had fussed about my lip for at least a good half hour before I convinced her it was nothing and that I simply had injured myself. It was the only way I was going to get out of the interrogation. I prayed they wouldn't find out about the fight anytime soon or I'd really be in trouble since I certainly just lied to their faces. Yeah, I'd be in deep shit.

I hadn't had a proper time to mourn because Reid and I had finally found the opportune time to have sex. In a way I felt guilty for being so selfish, but I knew that if Uncle William were alive right now, back to his old self like he had been when we were little, he wouldn't have let death bring down his attitude. I had been told he was more like Reid was now: carefree and a great lover of life, when he had been our age. I supposed that although Uncle William had been selfish in regards to his family, he wouldn't have begrudged us for living our lives to the fullest.

My father was going to take it harder than the rest of us. My uncle had practically been his best friend, so it was understandable. I couldn't even imagine losing anyone I loved so dearly. Well, when I was eight my pet hamster, Spunky, died and that had been pretty rough, but losing a person would have been even harder. A hamster couldn't compare. Dad already started to close off from everyone, quietly reflecting on his emotions. I had seen him go through this faze before when my grandparents died. I guess it was his way of mourning.

Caleb seemed to be taking this all in stride and my aunt hadn't stopped drinking since Caleb's birthday. I think it really hit her that even though he acted like a selfish ass, her husband proved at last that he still cared a great deal for them when he sacrificed himself for Caleb. Pogue still hadn't told Kate about the ceremony tonight. It wasn't my place to butt in, so I didn't disagree with his decision. It wasn't my secret to tell, though it did sort of make me wonder why he wouldn't tell her. If they were going to stay together forever then he'd have to break the news to her eventually. It'd be impossible otherwise.

Stopping my train of thought in its tracks (no pun intended) I pulled myself out of bed and trudged across the bedroom. My shower was quick and after drying my hair and throwing on my uniform I found myself in the kitchen getting breakfast with my parents, Caleb, and Auntie Ev. I wasn't sure that I'd ever had such an awkward breakfast in my whole life. Things were tense as this evening was no doubt weighing on everyone's mind. Once I was finished, I folded my hands in my lap. When Caleb stood up I followed suit and dropped a kiss on my parents cheeks before grabbing my bag and walking out the door.

"Tense," I muttered once we were in the car.

"Yeah."

"How are you doing today, Cal?" I asked quietly.

He shrugged. "Everything feels about the same. He hasn't been himself or around for eleven years, so it won't change much. It's not like he's really gone. I can still feel his presence; the old him through his power."

I smiled faintly and rubbed a hand on my cousin's shoulder. "That's a good way of thinking about it."

The rest of the ride was silent as we arrived at school. Reid greeted me with a sweet kiss that had me missing him all over again. When I buried my face in his neck he chuckled and pulled me closer as the rest of the group headed to class.

"Miss me already?"

I nodded, kissing his skin. "I'm really going to need you today."

"Need me, huh?"

I could hear the smirk in his voice and rolled my eyes even though he couldn't see it. "Yes, for support, perv." I slapped his chest lightly as I pulled away. "It's going to be a long emotional day."

His smirk vanished and he brushed some hair off my face. "I know, babe. I'm here for you." Pressing a kiss to my forehead, he put his arm around my waist and led me down the hall. I didn't know how I was going to get through the rest of today without Reid's humor or comforting antics. He always made me feel better… I just wished I had been able to see the future.

* * *

After gym class, which I was dragged to by Sarah and Kate, I tossed my things down on the table in the library and waited for Reid and Tyler to arrive. I wanted nothing more than to avoid the whole gym scene completely, but if I was to ditch than I'd be in even more trouble than yesterday. It wasn't the day to bring more grief to the family. Amy hadn't so much as glanced in my direction and her locker had been moved. I was guessing that she asked for that arrangement. It was interesting though to have the rest of the girls look at me like I was going to snap at any second. Maybe I wouldn't be bothered anymore by any of Reid's "fangirls" as I found I enjoyed calling them.

I wondered how tonight would go. The wake would be brief by the old colony houses and then the funeral would take place at the family cemetery nearby. Everything was secluded and private and it would make finding out about Uncle James dying once he'd already been "dead" very difficult.

Reid's parents came back last night around the same time as my parents' arrival at the airport. It would be a long night for sure as any funeral goes. The small group of family and friends were all to come over to the Danvers house later on where drinks would be served and memories and stories would most likely be shared. It was a time of closure just as any funeral ceremony. I wondered how late it would go seeing as how the majority of the guests wouldn't need to get up for work in the morning. The rest of us, however, had school and I wasn't sure how we could possibly all get away with staying home from school without Kate getting suspicious and asking questions.

As I sat deep in thought a quick kiss was placed on my cheek before Reid sat down. Tyler sat opposite of me with a smile.

"You looked kind of lonely there," he commented, pulling out a notebook. Tyler always managed to get at least some of his homework done in study hall, while Reid either distracted me or we distracted each other. Distracting Tyler was a difficult challenge though. I suppose he was just a more focused student than us. I'd get my work done when I wasn't with them.

I sighed, rubbing my eyes. "I was just thinking." Then I really got a good look around me. There were hardly any other students in the library. "Where is everyone?"

Reid shrugged before glancing around. "Don't know, don't care. Come on." He took my hand and tugged me up from my chair.

I looked at him questioningly, but obliged. "Where are we going?"

"Don't worry about it. Tyler, watch our stuff."

"Sure." Tyler just resumed flipping through his notebook without a second thought.

Reid pulled me along with him down a few aisles of the library. Each row was filled with hundreds of books. Honestly, it was a pretty big library. The shelves were tall, reaching a few feet above our heads and I nearly tripped over a step stool used to retrieve the higher books.

Tired of being dragged around without any knowledge as to where the hell we were going, I settled for a snarky comment. "Never pegged you for much of a reader." We ended up in a section of the library I didn't even think I'd been to before. I didn't have much time to contemplate this though as my back was suddenly pushed up against one of the bookcases and Reid's lips were on mine. At that point I had forgotten about whatever I was saying or confused about and could only focus on Reid. I didn't think there was ever such a thing as a simple kiss with him. Even now, his body pressed against mine and his hands roamed over my own like a man starved.

I only had enough time to tangle my fingers in his short blonde locks before I was gasping for air and Reid's lips trailed across my jaw down to my neck. As he nipped at my skin, his hips ground into mine and I was unable to stifle a moan. One hand dropped down to my thigh and shimmied up my skirt in record time, finding my panties. Fingers were teasingly brushed against my heat through the fabric and his lips found mine again just in time to muffle my sigh. His other hand pulled my tucked in shirt out from my skirt to brush across the bare skin of my stomach. Soon it was travelling up to my chest where it cupped one of my breasts firmly.

I clung to his shoulders like a lifeline when his hand slipped under my panties to my center before a finger delved in. A sharp cry escaped me which Reid seemed to try his best to muffle once again with his mouth. It was amazing that whatever tension had been weighing on me heavily was replaced by a new tension gathering below; something _much_ better. As his finger moved, his other hand found its way under my bra to brush against one of my nipples. I thought I might just about explode from all the sensations. I breathed heavily into Reid's mouth as another moan was emitted and it seemed that my hips were inclined to move along with his ministrations almost of their own accord.

What a heavenly idea of Reid's this had been. I'd seriously have to show him later how much I appreciated this distraction from reality. The fun and games came to an abrupt end when we heard a gasp that hadn't come from me followed by a thud. Reid tore his mouth from mine and his head snapped in the direction of the sound, his finger leaving me as he did so and pulling my skirt down. A younger boy, probably a freshman, stood there wide-eyed, a book at his feet.

"This isn't a free show,_ kid_," Reid practically growled at him. "Beat it." He looked annoyed as hell while I simply stood there and gaped at the intruder. I guess I wasn't expecting to be interrupted, but that was a stupid thought because we were in the school library during school hours. Of course there was a chance to be caught. I was an idiot for even letting it get this far. Who knew what else would have happened. Knowing Reid it could have been anything.

Needless to say, Reid got his point across because the boy hauled ass out of the aisle abandoning his book.

"Oh my God," I mumbled covering my burning face with my hands in embarrassment. Pretty soon the entire school would know. It was practically inevitable.

"Aw, babe, it wasn't that bad," he muttered pressing a kiss to a section of my forehead that wasn't covered. Grasping my wrists, he gently tugged my hands from my face. "Guess I should have made sure the coast was clear, huh?" He grinned and the corners of my mouth tipped up.

"We're going to get our asses kicked out of the library, and possibly the school one of these days, Reid." For the second time today I buried my face in his neck and sighed.

"Probably. I wouldn't worry about it." His arms encircled me and he sighed as well. "I thought it would help you relax, sneaking away from it all. Did it help at all, or did that asshole ruin it?"

I grinned and kissed his neck softly a few times before replying. "Absolutely. It was just what I needed to get my mind off of things. I'll have to thank you properly for this sometime soon."

Reid's lips met my ear. "You sure you don't want to thank me now?"

I pulled back and raised an eyebrow. "Getting caught once is enough for me. Maybe later, if you're lucky."

He raised his eyebrows, a smirk crossing his lips. "Oh, I plan on getting lucky, babe. Somebody has to cheer you up, right?" The back of his hand brushed against my cheek.

I was just glad that it was him.

* * *

I promised Kate and Sarah that I'd come over to their dorm and fill them in on the "juicy details" as they referred to them, but I was actually dreading it. Talking about that night wasn't exactly something I looked forward to doing. It was perfect in every way and I felt like talking about it would ruin the magic of it. It sounds lame, I know, but honestly it was how I felt. I thought about avoiding them for as long as possible, but I figured they'd come find me and drag to their dorm anyway. I'd find my way around telling them everything though. Perhaps being extremely vague would satisfy their curiosity (nosiness), but I doubted it.

I was supposed to meet Reid by the locker room before his swim practice. For what? I didn't know. I wouldn't see him until the wake tonight. Briefly as I walked down the hall to the boys' locker room, my mind fell on an important fact I had forgotten. Holy crap was it important. The second that I found Reid, I'd have to tell him. How could he have to forgotten that? Of course, I should have spoken up, but my mind had been so clouded with nerves and excitement that night that the very thought of it flew right out the window. I was panicking as I got closer to my destination and if it wasn't for a moan followed by some giggling I heard farther down the way, I would have had a panic attack.

Now I was having a different sort of panic attack… there was no way in hell I wanted to walk down those stairs and find somebody making out or worse. In a way it reminded me of earlier today in the library and I blushed. I knew how that guy felt, sort of. Seeing as how I couldn't continue on to meet Reid, I figured a text would be enough.

_Locker room blocked by ppl getting frisky. Call u later. Love u, Rox_

I hit the send button and was putting my phone away and getting ready to walk back down by the dorms when I heard it: the doorbell sound of Reid's phone going off. It could have just been a coincidence, but my gut told me it was better to be safe than sorry. Slipping quietly down the stairs I peered around the corner to see a red head who looked an awful lot like Amy sandwiched between the wall and a blonde male; a blonde male with fingerless gloves and the same message tone as Reid Garwin. They were locked in a heated embrace, her shirt pushed up, his jacket on the floor and his hands… well I couldn't bear the thought of it. It couldn't have been any more shocking as what happened when Amy sighed loudly as his face moved to her ear. She giggled and muttered something that sounded strikingly like Reid's name.

My heart dropped and I had to cover my mouth with my hand to hold back a choked sob. Not caring about getting caught anymore, I ran up the steps and down the hall blindly as my vision blurred significantly. So many thoughts crossed my mind that I felt like I was drowning in my own head. And the emotions were like a tidal wave pulling me further under. I felt humiliated, heart broken, hurt beyond belief, and angry.

Why would he do this to me? Now was not the time to think that Caleb had been right all along. Not two days after we slept together and here he was with another girl. But what if that wasn't exactly the case? What if he had been with Amy the entire time? That couldn't have been right. She had been saying this whole time to tell Reid when he was through with me to come back to her… but what if she had just been baiting me so that I'd break up with Reid and they could finally be together publically? It didn't make sense. None of it made sense. The entire situation didn't make any sense. He was supposed to love me. So what happened?

Bile rose in my throat as thoughts of what _I _had done wrong flooded my mind. Through my mess of tears, I managed to throw myself into the girls' bathroom to vomit. I sat on the floor of that stall for what felt like forever. I felt sick. I felt empty. I just wanted this to be a nightmare. This wasn't how I normally acted. The real me would have stormed down that hallway and slapped the shit out of both Reid and Amy before telling him to fuck off, that he wasn't good enough for me.

But I wasn't the real Roxanne anymore. I was a different person. I was a shell of what I used to be all from one horrible event. I couldn't go down that way. I wouldn't. And I couldn't just avoid Reid forever or pretend like I hadn't witnessed him cheating on me. I had to be strong. I had to push these fucking horrid emotions aside and tell him off. Then I could curl in a ball and just die somewhere. But that wasn't my usual train of thought either and I realized that loving that boy had ruined me. I just couldn't let that happen. So I wiped the tears from my eyes, rinsed my mouth out with water from the sink, and marched out of the bathroom.

It was time to focus on the anger that I felt, no matter how minimal that compared to the pain coursing through me. The closer to the door of the swimming pool I got, the more my hands started shaking. I wasn't sure if it was because I was about to break down again or if I was just really angry. At the moment my emotions were a jumbled mess making it difficult to separate one from the other.

I threw open the pool door which sounds far more dramatic than it actually was. Reid stood leaning against the wall chatting carelessly with Tyler and I felt the anger boil up. How dare he just stand there without a worry in the world when I was being ripped apart from the inside out? Pogue was the first to notice me, his face looking shocked. I hadn't so much as glanced in the mirror, so I assumed that I must have looked like shit.

"Fuck. Rox, are you okay? What the hell happened to you?" he asked concerned. He put his hand on my shoulder as he leaned down, trying to meet my eyes for an answer. But I didn't look at him. I stared straight ahead at Reid and brushed Pogue's hand off. If I spoke to anyone else I was going to lose it.

Walking determinedly to where Reid and Tyler stood brought attention to me from the other swimmers. They must have been wondering what I was doing there. Hell, _I_ was wondering what I was doing there, but I had to remain strong. Reid turned his head, his eyes roaming over my face and whatever else was misplaced, with worry.

"Babe? What-" And I slapped him. I slapped him so hard that my hand throbbed like it was on fire or broken and Reid's head snapped to the side. An instant red mark appeared on his cheek when he looked back at me. I found confusion and hurt in those blue orbs and I was sure that mine had mirrored them some time ago. Now I was mad. The fury was raging through me after I slapped him. It felt good to cause him any ounce of pain after the pain I'd just been through, was still going through.

"Don't 'babe' me, you lying son of a bitch," I hissed. My tone was cold, yet angry and it sounded far away.

"What are you talking about? What's wrong?" he asked, his eyebrows furrowed. He reached out to touch me and I flinched away.

"Don't touch me!" I shrieked. Now my foreign presence had been brought to the coach's attention and Coach Hamm totally hated me. He hated everyone but his teammates and sometimes it seemed like he even hated them. I heard him shout for me to get out. Tyler was looking at me completely bewildered like I'd gone mad and as for Reid, I don't think even he knew what to do.

"Just tell me what happened," he said quietly dropping his hands to his sides. "What did I do?"

But I wasn't going to answer his questions. He knew what he did; there was no reason to play innocent. "How could you? How could you _kiss_ her? How could you…?" But my sentence faltered because I couldn't think about the way he was touching her. I knew Reid had been with a bunch of other girls before me, but I had never actually witnessed it quite like this before. Especially not after I'd given him my heart, soul, body, and whatever the hell else he wanted to take.

His eyes widened in what I took for surprise before his eyebrows furrowed again. "_What?_ Kiss who?"

"Amy. How could you do that? I hate you." But I didn't. In fact I wished to just curl up in his arms and bury my face in his chest until he made everything else go away. But I couldn't because he was the one that had hurt me. Not anyone else, only Reid. "If you don't want to get caught, try turning your phone off. I gave you everything and _this_ is what you do?" I slapped him again in a half hearted attempt to hurt him and my face felt wet. Maybe I was crying again. I didn't know and it didn't matter.

"My phone? Rox, I don't understand-"

"Fuck you."

Coach Hamm was yelling for Caleb to get me out of there and soon a pair of warm arms were wrapped around me and I was lifted up to be taken out. Any other words spoken fell onto deaf ears. I wasn't hearing anything and it all seemed so far away like an out of body experience.

"I hate you, Reid Garwin! I fucking _hate_ you!" I screamed as Caleb carried me out of the echoing room, Pogue in tow after he held the door open.

Once we were down the hall, the boys probably in their tiny swimsuits for practice, I broke down fully. I buried my face in my cousin's bare chest and sobbed my eyes out to the point where I could barely catch my breath and my eyes felt like they'd fall out of my head. He held me tight to him and whispered words of comfort as he brushed his hand through my hair. I faintly remembered him going through the same routine when we were kids. I heard him say something to Pogue, but I didn't pick it up fully. I think I was sobbing too loudly if there was such a thing. Eventually, Caleb would have to go back to swim practice, or at least get dressed.

When I had settled myself down enough to pull back and look at him, Caleb's expression softened. "I'm sorry, Roxanne. I don't know what happened, but I'm sorry it happened to you." He brushed the tear streaks off of my cheeks and kissed my forehead. "I'm going to walk you down to Sarah's room and go back and get dressed. Then I'll take you home."

"No," I said. My voice sounded horse and scratchy. "You can't miss practice."

"I can't stand to be in the same room as him right now." Was his reply and his expression hardened significantly.

"Cal?" I croaked and when he looked back down at me, the expression he wore was one of compassion and love. "I'll stay with Sarah and Kate. I'll be okay. I don't want to be alone."

He sighed through his nose as he mulled it over. "Are you sure?"

I nodded taking a deep breath. I noticed Pogue had gone back. Caleb kissed my forehead again as he embraced me tightly. I remembered what today was and I mentally scolded myself. "I'm sorry, Cal."

He looked down at me confused, but then seemed to realize what I was apologizing for. "No, Rox. Don't be sorry for something you had no control over. If it happened today, it happened today. I wish it didn't though. It's going to be hard enough without him adding to the bullshit for you."

"Thanks," I replied softly, kissing his cheek when we reached Kate and Sarah's dorm door and knocked.

He smiled down at me. "Hey, I'm your cousin, Rox. I'll be here for you forever, you know that."

* * *

The greeting I received was surprising, but comforting. The second the door opened, the girls looked confused for less than a second before Sarah enveloped me in a hug and Kate rubbed my shoulder comfortingly.

"What the hell happened?" Kate asked over my shoulder. She sounded angry.

"Not what, _who_."

"Oh, shit." Sarah said sounding defeated before giving me a final squeeze. Kate and Caleb exchanged some words which I couldn't concentrate on as Sarah led me over to her bed and made me sit down. I assumed it was about coming back to get me or what happened moments ago, but I couldn't bring myself to care. "I'm making you some hot cocoa. Sometimes it helps."

I nodded feeling pretty numb now, numb and exhausted. I was sure that she didn't mind if I just curled up and closed my eyes for a bit. Movement on the bed signaled Kate sitting on the edge. She rubbed my back soothingly. "If you want to talk, you know we're here, girlie." A piece of my mind wondered if they were only saying that because they were curious, but I knew talking about it would probably help. I just wasn't quite ready yet.

"Yeah," Sarah chimed in. The microwave beeped seconds later and I heard the click of the small door being opened. "Here, it's hot. I'll just set it on the nightstand."

"Thanks guys." I hated how weak my voice sounded. "Do you think we could just watch some TV?"

"Sure." Kate snatched the remote and flipped through the channels before she and Sarah settled on something on E!. It was a nice break from life to listen to the two girls talk about celebrities and tear apart their wardrobes. As entertaining as it was, I found that it was like being a normal girl. Sitting around being girly and not being stuck with a secret of your boyfriend, his friends, and your cousin weighing on you like a ton was a relief. I never realized how much it bothered me before to have to constantly watch what I said, but around Sarah and Kate I could be normal for the most part. It wasn't that I didn't love the guys, maybe not Reid at the moment (a lie I told myself) but sometimes it would have been nice for everything to go normally for once.

As I sat silently just listening, the thought crossed my mind about how Reid would have felt if I would have gone up and kissed Tyler. Would he have felt his heart rip in half? I thought he might have been pissed, maybe he wouldn't even care, but there was no way I could just go up to Ty and kiss him in hopes to get back at Reid. It was insanity. I internally groaned when I remembered that I'd have to see Reid at the ceremony tonight.

Both Sarah and Kate turned to look at me. I guessed I hadn't groaned internally as I previously thought. I almost wanted to laugh, but I didn't know if I could handle it. "I was, um, supposed to see him tonight. It was important." I couldn't say much more. Kate wasn't supposed to know about tonight's dreary event, but Sarah caught on right away.

"Well, he'll have to stay the fuck away from you or I'll punch him," she replied with a careless shrug.

I was able to crack a smile and Kate laughed lightly, shaking her head at Sarah's comment. I was grateful for this time away from the boys. Many of my memories that consisted of Reid had something to do with the other guys. Kate and Sarah were like a vacation from that part of my life even if they were dating Pogue and Caleb. I was so happy that Sarah would be there tonight. I needed someone on my side no questions asked. I couldn't ask that of the boys. Their histories with Reid went back as far as mine had and I couldn't make them choose sides even though Caleb would probably be on mine.

"I don't know what I'd do without you two," I muttered before settling back again and letting my eyes drift closed. I needed to get some rest at least if I was going to survive tonight. It was the honest truth and I ended up dreading the funeral even more so than I had this morning.


End file.
